Former Aide Claims Melania Trump’s White House Budget Was Diverted to Ivanka
SOURCE: MEGA
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former aide and friend of Melania Trump, has alleged that Melania was left with a limited budget for staffing her White House office because a significant portion of the funds was redirected to Ivanka Trump. Wolkoff detailed these claims in her tell-all book Melania and Me and during a 2021 appearance on the Mooch FM podcast, as per Mirror.
According to Wolkoff, the budget and staff allocation issues arose immediately upon entering the White House. “I walked into the White House on January 22 and had dinner with the Trump family the day after the swearing-in,” Wolkoff recounted. She had hoped to help Melania create a bipartisan group of women dedicated to making a global impact, but financial constraints hindered these plans from the onset.
“I’m realizing Melania didn’t have a budget and didn’t really have any staff,” Wolkoff stated during her discussion with Katie Walsh, Donald Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff. The constraints were so severe that Wolkoff claimed she had to forgo her salary to allow for the hiring of two additional staff members needed to set up the East Wing, which was being utilized by Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner.
“It was me interviewing everyone because Ivanka and Jared had used all of the budgets, all of the titles,” Wolkoff explained. She highlighted the difficulty in hiring experienced staff due to the limited titles and salaries available after the allocations to Ivanka and Jared. Wolkoff served as an unpaid adviser to Melania from January 2017 to February 2018.
Her tenure was marked by frustration over the general disregard for the First Lady’s role within the East Wing. “It was so disheartening because it didn’t matter to me whether Melania was there, whether they felt Melania had the ability to do something that was impactful,” she said. Wolkoff expressed a deep respect for the position of the First Lady and was disappointed by the lack of recognition for Melania’s potential to contribute meaningfully, as per the Daily Express.
Melania and Me, released in September 2020, delves into various issues during Wolkoff’s time at the White House, including allegations of misuse of inauguration funds and the strained relationship between Melania and Ivanka. One particularly sensational claim in the book is that Melania delayed moving to the White House in part because of her reluctance to use the same restroom facilities as former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Since the publication of her book, Wolkoff has faced allegations of violating a non-disclosure agreement. Her revelations continue to stir discussions about the dynamics within the Trump family and the operations of the Trump administration, according to Politico.
