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Melania Trump was secretly recorded in the summer of 2018 by a former friend and counselor, in a conversation in which the American first lady expressed her frustration at being criticized for her husband’s policy of separating families from immigrants who crossed. illegally the border. while, at the same time, she had to perform traditional first lady duties, such as preparing for Christmas.
“They say I’m an accomplice. I’m like him, I support him. I’m not saying enough, I’m not doing enough,” Melania Trump said in a statement. She recorded the recording without her knowledge by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former friend and senior adviser to the first lady who wrote a book about their relationship, titled “Melania and Me.”
The recordings were played on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” show on Thursday, and were recorded by Wolkoff after he left the White House.
Melania Trump said lines like this: “Okay, so I do that and say I’m working on Christmas and planning Christmas and they said, ‘Oh, what about the kids who were separated?’ Sorry … where were you going to say something when Obama was doing this? “
In a statement, Melania Trump’s chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, criticized Wolkoff for releasing the recording.
“Secretly recording the first lady and deliberately violating an NDA [Non disclosure agreement – acordo de não divulgação] Publishing a lewd book is a clear attempt to be relevant. The timing of this remains suspect, as does this endless exercise in narcissism, “the White House official said.
“They slept on the ground in their countries”
In another recording, Melania Trump emphasizes the reaction of migrant children brought “by coyotes” as evidence of the quality of the detention centers and “the way they are cared for.”
“Children say, ‘Wow, will I have my own bed? Will I sleep in the bed? Will I have a closet for my clothes?’ It’s very sad to hear that, but they didn’t have it in their own countries, they slept on the floor, “Melania Trump said in the recording.
The First Lady also questioned the authenticity of reports of some immigrants’ flight due to danger in their home countries.
Wolkoff told Cooper on Thursday that she believed Melania Trump may have felt a motherly concern for the children, but that she had overcome it to adjust to the husband’s government agenda.
In the book, Wolkoff revealed private conversations with the First Lady on topics ranging from her cold relationship with her stepdaughter Ivanka to her wedding, ideas about border politics, about Michelle Obama and even the controversy with a coat that Melania wore in 2018 o his frequent use of emojis.
A former Vogue magazine employee who oversaw luxury events, Wolkoff has known Melania Trump for more than a decade. The two women were close for several years, when they both lived in New York City and operated in similar social circles.
Wolkoff was the first person Trump hired as a consultant to the First Lady, writing speeches. However, as investigations into the swearing-in event were conducted, Wolkoff’s relationship with Trump fell apart, fueled by the amount of money that Wolkoff and his event company allegedly pocketed during the planning and execution.
Wolkoff’s company received more than $ 26 million, most of which went to subcontractors, but a large sum, reportedly $ 1.6 million, went directly to Wolkoff’s business, according to documents analyzed by CNN. Wolkoff personally received about $ 500,000 for his role in that event, according to the The New York Times.
