Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump have never been friends—and they’ve certainly never had a positive stepmother-stepdaughter relationship. This dynamic was put under a microscope when Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016 and the whole family moved into the White House.
As Trump’s two right-hand women tried to find their place in both the family and the political network they set up, their relationship strained even further. But now that they’ve been out of the White House for nearly four years and the fact that neither woman seems to want any part in Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, many thought that their relationship was on the mend. However, one of Melania Trump’s former aides just spoke out and squashed those rumors. Keep reading for more information.
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Melania Trump & Ivanka Trump Butt Heads During White House Tenure
While Melania was one of the less-involved First Ladies that America has seen, that apparently did not mean she wasn't proud of the title. According to an insider, though Melania may have made it seem like she didn't care, "she was privately obsessed with any mention of herself in the media. It was a role she felt was rightfully hers—and she wasn't going to see Ivanka take it from her!"
However, according to this source, Melania not only felt threatened, but was a bit afraid as well. "She avoided [Ivanka's] East Wing office for the entire presidency for fear she'd run into Ivanka," the source continued.
This was reportedly an issue throughout all of Trump's presidency. Melania was annoyed by Ivanka's presence "in the Oval Office for important discussions," as it prompted the press to talk about her "as if she was first lady," the source explained.
Melania's feelings about the situation weren't unguided, though. According to Katie Rogers, author of American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hilary Clinton to Jill Biden, Ivanka wanted some of that first lady power. When Melania didn't immediately move into the White House when Trump was elected in order to stay with their son, Barron, in New York, Ivanka wanted to turn Melania's office into an area "geared toward serving the entire First Family, not just the First Lady."
And Donald Trump supported this idea. "She was aware that her husband had suggested that his eldest daughter would be helping to share the responsibilities of being First Lady," Rogers continued. "And this was not a development that pleased her."
Reconciliation Is Just A Rumor
Apparently, this was enough for Melania to hold a grudge for years following, because despite reports from Page Six saying that the Trump family hasn't been "on the same page like this since [Trump's] inauguration years ago," and that Trump's recent guilty verdict in the hush money case has created "a thaw in the sometimes chilly and tense relationship between Ivanka and Melania," Melania's former aide says it couldn't be further from the truth.
"Knowing her for almost two decades," Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, the former first lady's first hire after Trump's presidential election win, explained, "Melania Trump does not share the same headline with Ivanka for any reason. The fact that it's being written that Melania and Ivanka are on better terms [and this] has brought them closer is ridiculous."
"It really is," she added. "I wouldn't be surprised if Melania at one point does come out and say that [the claims are] not true." Well, we'll sure be more privy to their relationship status if Donald Trump wins the election this fall. We'll just have to wait and see...
