Melania Trump's Contentious White House Relationship With Ivanka Is Revisited in First Ladies Book

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Melania Trump’s contentious relationship with her stepdaughter, Ivanka Trump, was extensively covered during Donald Trump’s four-year administration. White House insiders revealed that they were constantly jockeying for press attention and the first lady position, and now, an upcoming book by Katie Rogers, American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden, is examining their frosty friendship even further.

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Melania’s decision to stay in New York while her son, Barron, completed his school year is likely where the war began. It gave Ivanka time to establish her unpaid adviser role while taking on a few first lady duties for herself which had the full support of her dad. According to an excerpt obtained by Radar Online, Melania called Ivanka “The Princess” behind her back — there was no love lost between the two women.

While they did their best to steer clear of each other once Melania moved to Washington, D.C., they were constantly “locked in a quiet competition for press coverage.” The book claims that the former first lady was “obsessed” with how she was perceived by the media and the public, researching “every mention of her name in the press and often trawled Twitter to see what the press, her critics, and her supporters were saying about her.”

Stephanie Winston Wolkoff detailed similar allegations in her 2020 book, Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady. “Melania lived in New York. She didn’t appear in public or release statements to the press. Her social media was quiet,” Wolkoff wrote. “Ivanka rushed in to fill the void as ‘acting’ First Lady, issuing constant social media posts and press releases galore about her involvement with women’s issues, lobbying Daddy about climate change (alas, unsuccessfully), and attending every meeting she could slink her way into.”

Michael Schmidt’s book, Donald Trump v. The United States, also called out Ivanka for trying to push out Melania and become the first lady in “ceremonial ways.” The feud required the real first lady to establish “firm boundaries” with Ivanka once she landed in the White House. It doesn’t sound like it was an easy relationship, whatsoever, and the two women still don’t appear to be close over three years after they left Washington, D.C.

Before you go, click here to see family feuds we can’t believe played out in public.

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