Wolkoff wrote: “We were all tired and stressed. Yes, Operation Block Ivanka was small. Melania was on this mission. But in our minds, Ivanka should not have made herself the center of attention in her father’s inauguration.”
Wolkoff, a former director of special events for Vogue magazine who oversaw events such as the Met Gala and helped organize events around Trump’s inauguration, has known Melania for more than a decade. She was Melania’s first hire in the East Wing and worked unpaid as a special government employee. But it turned out to be a short stint. As investigations into inaugural activities progressed, the eye-popping sum paid to Wolkoff’s company – nearly $ 26 million – caused a rift with the Trump family.
The fragment from Wolkoff’s new book describes the bad blood between Melania and Ivanka – who Melania, according to Wolkoff, refers to as “Princess.”
An administration official pointed to Wolkoff’s character, saying her behavior was “the complete opposite of Mrs. Trump’s style.”
“They are inflating their relationship with the first lady,” along with other behaviors that irritated the East Wing, the official said. The official added: “it had to be brought to the attention of Mrs. Trump – who tolerates that kind of behavior.”
Wolkoff claimed that Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, both White House staffers, were always on the lookout for opportunities to reduce and “control” Melania, and even sought to take office space in the East Wing during the presidential transition. .
“Ivanka was ruthless and was determined to be the first daughter Lady and expand office space under Melania; she wanted to be the only visible female Trump on the ground,” Wolkoff wrote.
A transition source disputed the idea that Ivanka was ever on the hunt for office space for the East Wing, saying Ivanka was always focused on working on policy issues from the West Wing. “The idea that they were trying to take over the East Wing, I know it’s been written a million times, that does not make it any more true,” the source said.
“Ivanka asked her White House staffers to write to her in her private e-mail – the exact crime that the Trumps crippled Hillary Clinton for during the general election,” Wolkoff wrote. “Would someone sing ‘Shut them up!’ “Ivanka’s private server? Doubtful. The email thing was hypocritical, to say the least. But the Trumps made their own rules.”
Representatives for Ivanka said at the time that she was using a private server before being informed of the rules and that none of her messages contained classified information.
The brief example of the book also shows the slapdash efforts to put together an inaugural commission.
The attorney general’s office in Washington, DC, charged the Trump initial commission earlier this year with misuse of nonprofit funds. Officials in the Southern District of New York are also investigating.
According to the book fragment, Trump exclaimed, “I want Rick fired now! That b ——.” And then he immediately turned around and tapped John McEntee – a “25-year-old bodyguard” – to carry out inauguration efforts.
Trump “told the child to sit down. ‘You are now responsible for the inauguration,'” Wolkoff wrote. “I could not tell if Donald was serious about ticking off the 25-year-old bodyguard to be the new deputy chairman of the (presidential inauguration committee). He looked like he was just out of college.”
McEntee never took the helm of the inauguration efforts.
CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to reflect that the fragment was published Wednesday.
Kara Scannell contributed to this report.
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