Melania Trump's Ex-Aide Resurfaces Her Acting Debut (& It's More Awkward Than We Remembered)

The transformation of Melania Trump from a young Slovenian model to the American first lady is inspirational to anyone who loves a good Cinderella story. However, that path has had a couple of embarrassing bumps along the way. There was quite a bit of squirming during the 2016 presidential campaign when voters were reminded Donald Trump's third wife had posed nude for the British edition of GQ. Melania's attempt at entering the entertainment world wasn't exactly a "Citizen Kane" moment, either — as her former friend is only too happy to remind us.

Melania is currently promoting her upcoming memoir "Melania," which promises to cover her "journey" of "experiences, challenges, and achievements," as she announced on Instagram. Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, her ex-aide, reacted to the news with a sly dig on X (formerly known as Twitter). "We'll know soon enough if Melania discusses her 'illustrious' acting debut as a duck in MELANIA," she wrote. As proof, she uploaded the clip of a 2005 ad for a well-known insurance company. The spot shows a mad scientist's experiment in which Melania's voice is transplanted into the duck mascot "to tell the world the benefits of Aflac — with sex appeal!" Sure enough, the trademark duck awakes and speaks in her famous accent, while the future first lady sits up and quacks, "AFLAC!" The tag of the spot shows Melania shrieking as she discovers she now has the duck's feet as well.

We"ll know soon enough if Melania discusses her 'illustrious' acting debut as a duck in MELANIA.

"Donald is known for saying 'YOU'RE FIRED'; maybe I"ll be known for saying 'AFLAC.'"

"I am very excited to make my acting debut in the latest Aflac commercial," she said to AdWeek. pic.twitter.com/6Fo5ERmAVI

— Stephanie Winston Wolkoff (@SWinstonWolkoff) August 25, 2024

Wolkoff suggested Melania wanted to become as famous for saying "AFLAC" as Donald was for his "You're fired" catchphrase from "The Apprentice," which was a hot reality show at the time.

Stephanie Winston Wolkoff first met Melania Trump through their mutual fashion connections and came on board as her adviser when the Trumps entered the White House. The friendship blew up after Wolkoff was accused (wrongly, she claims) of excessive spending on the president's inauguration. She went on to write an explosive tell-all, "Melania & Me," and Wolkoff's bold accusations against Melania haven't stopped since. After Melania announced her own memoir, Wolkoff declared on X, "TIME will tell, but the TRUTH always prevails." 

Sharing Melania's old AFLAC spot was clearly meant to embarrass her former friend. When you're used to hosting White House functions and wearing Karl Lagerfeld creations, you might not want to be reminded of the time you appeared on TV with webbed feet. But perhaps it's not the slap for which Wolkoff was hoping. After all, Donald Trump is proud of his wife's acting debut: In 2018, the then-president met with a group of workers to discuss his tax reform bill. Among the guests was a resource manager from Aflac who gifted Trump with a pair of duck socks. Per Georgia's Ledger-Enquirer, Trump commented, "Your chairman ... actually a long time ago hired my wife (Melania) to do a big commercial, an Aflac commercial, and I think it was a successful commercial, too."

Since "Melania" won't drop till October, fans and foes will have to wait to see whether the author mentions her 15 minutes (well, 30 seconds) of TV fame, or her only other acting appearance, as an uncredited "European immigrant" in the film "Zoolander." Clearly, Melania prefers her current role as a political wife.