Ivanka Trump tried to rename the wing of the White House, where the First Lady’s offices are at the beginning of Donald Trump‘s presidency, according to a new book. Author Mary Jordan has written a biography of the First Lady titled The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump, which reportedly details the tension and power struggle between Melania and Ivanka, among other things. The White House has denied these tales of an internal rift.
Melania’s new biography is out on Tuesday, June 16, but Jordan’s employer, The Washington Post, has gotten an advance look at its contents. One eye-catching detail is the apparent power struggle between Ivanka and her stepmother, beginning before Melania even moved to Washington, D.C. She sought to take over some space in the East Wing, and wanted to rename it from “the First Lady’s Office” to “the First Family’s Office.” This bid failed, though it took Melania six months to move into the White House.
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White House spokespeople have vehemently denied this claim of a rift between the first lady and Ivanka, the president’s daughter from his first marriage, and a controversial adviser for his administration. Deputy press secretary Judd Deere told The Daily Mail: “This is totally false. The media is once again running untrue information from anonymous sources and not once did anyone fact check this with the White House or Ivanka Trump.”
Likewise, Melania’s chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, said that this report was completely untrue. She denounced Jordan’s biography altogether, saying: “Yet another book about Mrs. Trump with false information and sources. This book belongs in the fiction genre.”
The first lady’s slow move to the White House was controversial at the time, casting doubts about the strength of her marriage to the president in general. Now, Jordan’s book explains for that time — she found that Melania used those months to re-negotiate her pre-nuptial agreement with Trump. Her purpose was reportedly “taking care of Barron” — making sure that her son shared equal opportunities of inheritance with Trump’s elder children. “She wanted proof in writing that when it came to financial opportunities and inheritance, Barron would be treated as more of an equal to Trump’s oldest three children,” Jordan wrote in the book.
The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump is based on interviews with over a hundred people across five countries, creating a comprehensive look at the mysterious first lady. It makes the case that Melania Trump has much more influence on the president than some tend to believe. The book will be available starting on Tuesday, June 16.
