A surprising accusation was leveled by a former aide of Melania Trump regarding her relationship with her husband, Donald Trump, and their son, Barron. Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former senior advisor to Melania, shared a clip from the original opening of Donald’s show, The Apprentice, on social media platform X. The video depicts Melania as a caring mother and Donald as a doting father.
Wolkoff captioned the video, “Many may think ‘DADDY’S HOME’ is a Father’s Day video. Nope! Millions of Americans watched The Apprentice. Donald was a household name. He needed a woman who looked and played the part and let him be the star. Marrying Melania and making her a Vogue cover model legitimized them both.”
Wolkoff’s accusations come as Melania has retreated from the public eye, particularly amid Donald’s hush money election interference trial, which focused on his alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels and led to his conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying company records.
In a subsequent tweet, Wolkoff stated that the show’s portrayal of the couple helped “catapult” them to the White House. She added, “What catapulted Donald J. Trump ‘businessman’ and his ‘supermodel’ wife to the White House was a MIRAGE created by Survivor producer Mark Burnett and NBC boss Jeff Zucker.
Editor-in-chief of Variety & NYT bestselling author @RaminSetoodeh chronicles the definitive untold story of Trump’s years as a reality TV star & how Trump himself admits he might not have been president without The Apprentice.”
In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper last month, Wolkoff described Melania’s marriage to the former president as “transactional” and condemned it while discussing Trump’s hush money trial in New York. According to HuffPost, she revealed during the interview, “I think people have to remember who Melania really is. There is no enigma, there is no mysteriousness.
Melania really is who she has portrayed herself to be. There is a strength within her that is unlike any other individual I have ever met. She does not care what others feel about her nor does she feel she had to ever explain anything to the American people.”
Wolkoff’s statements have sparked renewed interest and controversy surrounding Melania Trump‘s role during her husband’s presidency and her influence in their highly publicized relationship. As the trial and public scrutiny continue, the former First Lady remains a figure of intrigue and debate.