What I’m Reading: Melania and Me

Melania and Me, a 2020 biography by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former friend and senior advisor to Melania Trump, is an autobiography mainly about Stephanie’s relationship with Melania Trump. Although the author’s critique of Melania Trump appears very factual (in that she bases many of her statements from texts, and emails with the first lady), the reality is the author was sued by the Justice Department during Trump’s first Presidency for violating an NDA in authoring this book.

Additionally, Stephanie Wolkoff secretly made a recording with the first lady during Trump’s first Presidency in which Melania Trump expresses agitation over the criticism of the Trump administration’s migrant family separation policy. Lastly, Ms. Winston Wolkoff’s tenure working for the Trumps was until February 2018, when the presidential inaugural committee filed a financial disclosure statement showing that an entity Mrs. Wolkoff had incorporated, WIS Media Partners, was paid about $26 million. Of that, officials said, her own firm received $1.62 million, which was spread among more than a dozen contractors.

Obviously Stephanie Wolkoff has a bad history with the Trumps and is therefore no fan of Melania Trump. That being said, the reader can gain some insight into who Melania is, at least through her former close friend’s eyes.

Stephanie’s perception of Melania Trump (even during their 15-year friendship) was of a very confident, independent woman who does not really care about others in the way most people care. Even her marriage to Donald Trump, according to Ms. Wolkoff, is unique in that although there is love, it is a transactional kind of love. In addition to Stephanie’s disdain for Melania’s marriage, she also clearly has not forgiven her for her perceived betrayals.

Thus, although the author attempts to be factual in her analysis of Melania and her friendship, it at times comes across as prejudiced. To the author’s credit, she admits her pain and suffering due to her time with the Trumps, but she also appears to have never gotten over it. And thus, the reader should read this book with some skepticism.

BOTTOM LINE: This book is an interesting look into the world of the Trumps from the perspective of a former friend of Melania. While the author has texts and emails to promote her viewpoint of her friendship and employment with Melania, she clearly is hurt and is profiting off of sharing intimate details of a first lady. Thus, the reader should be skeptical as to the more salacious details in this book.