A one time close confidant of Melania Trump made an eyebrow-raising claim about the former First Lady’s relationship with Donald Trump amid swirling rumors about the pressures on their marriage.
Stephanie Winstom Wolkoff, who once served as a senior adviser to Melania Trump, posted a clip on X on Sunday from The Apprentice that paints Trump as a family man.
The video shows Melania Trump carrying her son Barron as a baby outside an opulent home. She goes to greet Trump saying ‘daddy’s coming home’ as Trump pulls up in a convertible and says ‘hi honey.’
‘Many may think ‘daddy’s home’ is a Father’s Day video. Nope!,’ Winston Wolkoff wrote on X.
‘Millions of Americans watched the Apprentice. Donald was a household name. He needed a woman who looked & played the part & let him be the star. Marrying Melania & making her a Vogue Cover model —legitimized them both.’
Former President Donald Trump and Melania at a fundraiser in Palm Beach, FL on April 6 before the start of Trump’s New York trial
She suggests the former first couple’s relationship was very much a business arraignment.
‘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,’ she continued.
She pointed to a new book by Ramin Setoodeh ‘Apprentice in Wonderland’ in which he admits he would not have been president without the TV show.
Recently the clip of the Trumps on The Apprentice went viral online with uses claiming it was a ‘rare footage’ of her as a mother when in reality it was the opening of the show.
Melania Trump holding Barron in a clip for The Apprentice on NBC. The video recently went viral as ‘rare footage’ but it was from the show
In the video, then-TV star Donald Trump plugs the latest season of The Apprentice with Melania standing by his side
Winston Wolkoff’s take-down comes as Melania has remained mostly out of public view as Trump mounts a bid for a second term in the White House and fights criminal charges in multiple cases.
The former first lady was not at the ex-president’s side during his criminal trial last month in New York which included detailed testimony about the ex-president allegedly cheating on her with a porn star.
The pair were spotted together for a mega-fundraiser in April and both attended Barron’s high school graduation last month in West Palm Beach, but she has made no public comment on his conviction or campaigned with him.
Melania Trump and the ex-president at Barron’s high school graduation on May 17
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff (left) with Melania Trump. She was a longtime adviser to the former first lady before the relationship turned sour
Mrs. Trump, 54, was also spotted leaving Trump Tower in New York days after the guilty verdict.
While several Trumps shared Father’s Day posts on Sunday, Melania was silent on social media despite sharing a post on X for Mother’s Day last month.
Winston Wolkoff appeared on CNN after Trump was found guilty to share what she believed was actually going on behind closed doors between the Trumps.
She said she believed Melania Trump was probably being direct and telling Trump exactly how she felt.
‘Donald finally got caught and along the way Melania knew exactly who she married. She knew that this was a transactional marriage,’ Winston Wolkoff said.
‘She became a top model, he became a loving, doting father, and it set them up for their run for the White House,’ she said.
She said Melania Trump will show up when it is needed to be a distraction for Trump.
