Melania Trump blasts Ivana's 'attention-seeking' first lady comment in biting statement

Melania Trump's spokeswoman slammed President Donald Trump's ex-wife Ivana on Monday after she referred to herself as the "first lady" on Good Morning America.

In a televised appearance meant to promote her new memoir "Raising Trump," 68-year-old Ivana said that she and the president are on good terms and claimed that she still speaks to him on the phone about twice a month.

"I have the direct number to White House but I don't really want to call him there because Melania is there and I don't really want to cause any kind of jealousy or something like that because I'm basically [the] first Trump wife, OK?" she joked to ABC's Amy Robach. "I'm [the] first lady, OK?"

First lady Melania Trump apparently did not take kindly to Ivana's statement.

Her spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, released a pointed statement to CNN on Monday, stating, "Mrs. Trump has made the White House a home for Barron and the President. She loves living in Washington, DC, and is honored by her role as first lady of the United States. She plans to use her title and role to help children, not sell books.

"There is clearly no substance to this statement from an ex, this is unfortunately only attention-seeking and self-serving noise," she added.

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During the interview, Ivana also said that after she and Donald Trump got divorced in 1992, she basically raised their three children -- Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka -- on her own.

"There can be only one chef in the kitchen," she recalled telling her ex-husband when they separated after his infamous affair with his soon-to-be second wife Marla Maples became public. "I would go and call Donald, I said, 'Ivanka is going to Chapin, or she's going to go to the Georgetown University. Eric is going to go to Hill School,' and he said, 'OK.' I was in charge."

"He was a loving father, don't get me wrong, and he was a good provider, but he was not the father which would take a stroll and go to the Central Park or go play to baseball with them or something," she added. "It was only until they were about 18-years-old [that] he could communicate with them, because he could start to talk business with them."

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