Melania Trump's Ex-Aide Puts Her Marriage To Donald On Full Blast Amid Trial
Over the years, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff went from Melania Trump's friend to her adviser after Donald Trump's 2016 election win, but now she's one of Melania's more vocal and frequent critics. A couple of weeks after the start of the Donald's hush money case, Winston Wolkoff posted a screenshot on X, formerly known as Twitter, of what she claims to be a text exchange she had with Melania, which started right before the second presidential debate in 2016 when Winston Wolkoff asked Melania if she was okay. This alleged conversation was a few days after the 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape, in which Donald was captured making lewd comments about women with host Billy Bush, came out.
In her post, Winston Wolkoff commented on what she felt to be the state of Donald and Melania's marriage, and it doesn't sound like she thinks it's a love match: "It's an unconventional marriage & she's complicit. Remeber[sic] that Melania does not care what anyone thinks about her or Donald. She knows who she married and so does he." It could explain why Melania responds to Donald's alleged infidelities by barely saying anything.
Melania Trump stood by Donald Trump in the wake of the Access Hollywood scandal
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff followed up on the screenshot of her alleged text conversation with Melania Trump with another X post, "Melania Trump tried to appear calm & poised on her October 18, 2016 interview with Anderson Cooper a few days after our luncheon playing up the 'boys being boys' talking points & spinning 'LOCKER ROOM TALK' as no big deal. She knew this could take Trump down. She stepped up." Winston Wolkoff seemed to be doubling down on claims that Melania knows her role in her marriage to Donald and in his campaign, and she was willing to defend him, even in the face of what for others might seem to be damning evidence of inappropriate conduct.
This appears to match up with what Michael Cohen said on the stand on May 13, 2024, in Donald's hush money case. Cohen said that it was Melania who had come up with the defense that Donald's vulgar discussion of what he can do to women on the 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape was just "locker room talk." During her interview with Anderson Cooper on October 17, 2016, Melania fully supported her husband, and she seemed to suggest that Billy Bush may have been trying to get Donald to say what he did, "He was lead on, like, egg on from the host to say dirty and bad stuff," via YouTube.
Melania seems to go along with Donald no matter what
Some people online seemed to agree with Stephanie Winston Wolkoff's characterization of Melania Trump — she's someone who doesn't have a problem with Donald Trump's behavior. One person replied on X: "She is in it for herself and her kids. She is not a victim."
Another wrote, "She doesn't really care about Trump's infidelity or Trump himself. And, he doesn't care about hers. She's alluded to this, saying things like she's a 'modern woman'. They both get what they want out of it. Transactional. Don't know how modern it is ... " Others think that Melania is in the marriage just for the money, so whatever it is that Donald does, she doesn't mind.
Winston Wolkoff's X feed has been full of Melania critiques — including Winston Wolkoff's scathing response to Melania's Mother's Day message — as Donald's criminal trial continues. One of the defense team's angles to the case could be that any payments that were made to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal to keep them quiet about alleged affairs with Donald were in an effort to keep Melania from being hurt as compared to trying to keep information from the voting public. It sounds like that defense wouldn't work on Winston Wolkoff.