Trump biographer claims president and Melania are ‘separated' and do not live by traditional marriage arrangements
Wolff, who has authored several books highly critical of the president over the years, made the remarks Tuesday on The Daily Beast Podcast.
'They clearly do not in any way inhabit a marriage as we define marriage,' Wolff said in response to host Joanna Coles's question as to what extent the first lady is involved in Trump's second administration.
'And I think maybe we can more specifically say they live separate lives,' Wolff continued. 'They are separated. The president of the United States and the first lady are separated.'
White House communications director Steven Cheung said that Wolff was 'a blithering idiot' who has been 'widely discredited due to his blatant lies and fabrications' in response to the author's comments when approached by The Independent.
'He is an imbecile of the highest order and his Trump Derangement Syndrome-addled brain has caused him to lead a miserable existence devoid of reality,' Cheung said.
Speculation surrounding the state of the couple's marriage has been rife given Melania's infrequent appearances at the White House.
Since Trump returned to office on January 20, Melania is estimated to have spent less than 14 days at the White House, according to The New York Times. That estimate might be 'generous,' the outlet reported, citing sources.
The first lady has made a handful of appearances in recent months beside her husband, including attending the funeral of the late Pope Francis the day before her 55th birthday and the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn.
When the president and first lady arrived back in the U.S. after the funeral on Melania's birthday, the couple went their separate ways, with Melania leaving in a car while the president boarded Marine One.
In a sit-down interview with Fox & Friends ahead of the inauguration, Melania gave some insight into how she would approach being first lady the second time around.
'I will be in the White House,' she said when asked where she planned to spend most of her time. 'And, you know, when I need to be in New York, I will be in New York. When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach.'
Her priority, she said, was 'to be a mom' to Barron, now 19, and, 'to be a first lady, to be a wife.'
Two people familiar with the first lady's thinking told the Times that she has been 'deeply spooked' by the two assassination attempts on Trump's life last summer. Melania 'was already worried about her family's safety and had been for years,' they told the newspaper.
Paolo Zampolli, the former modeling agent who first spotted Melania in Milan in 1995 and introduced her to Trump at New York's Kit Kat Club in 1998, said that claims about the first lady's absence from the White House were misleading.
'She loves the White House,' said Zampolli, the incumbent U.S. special representative for global partnerships. 'And she loves the role of serving as our first lady.'
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Time Magazine
an hour ago
- Time Magazine
Trump Kept Epstein Issue at Arm's Length. His Allies Did Not
During his 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump frequently vowed to 'demolish the deep state' and leaned into conspiracy-laden rhetoric. But on the subject of Jeffrey Epstein—the convicted sex offender and financier whose death in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 fueled years of conspiratorial obsession—Trump was notably less eager to make bold promises than many of his closest allies. While the idea of a secret 'Epstein client list' became a fixation for far-right influencers and members of Trump's base, the candidate himself rarely brought up Epstein unprompted in campaign speeches or rallies. Instead, it was Trump's official and unofficial surrogates—many of whom now occupy top posts in his Administration—who repeatedly stoked expectations that explosive revelations were imminent, often suggesting prosecutions were coming and that thousands of pages of damning material would soon be released. Now many in Trump's base are accusing him of falling far short of what they expected him to do with the Epstein case, partly because of years of rhetoric from his allies that neither Trump nor his campaign did much to refute. After the Justice Department and FBI announced this month that there is no incriminating 'client list' and no further disclosures would be made, Trump lashed out at his own supporters who were calling on him to release the files. 'My PAST supporters have bought into this 'bull—t,' hook, line, and sinker,' he wrote on Truth Social. 'I don't want their support anymore!' But some of his supporters pointed out that it was Trump himself who had deployed Epstein's alleged client list as political ammunition a decade ago, as he was laying groundwork for his first presidential run. At the conservative conference known as CPAC in February 2015, when Trump was asked for his thoughts on former President Bill Clinton, he responded: 'Nice guy. Got a lot of problems coming up in my opinion with the famous island with Jeffrey Epstein. A lot of problems.' Asked later that year by Bloomberg about Clinton and the alleged sexual abuse that took place on Epstein's private Caribbean island, Trump said, 'That island was really a cesspool. There's no question about it. Just ask Prince Andrew. He'll tell you about it.' Here is a snapshot of what Trump and his top allies said about the Epstein files during the 2024 campaign season and into the early months of his second term. Trump's statements June 2, 2024 — Trump on Fox & Friends In a lengthy interview, Trump was asked about declassifying files from high-profile investigations. He didn't hesitate in agreeing to declassify files from investigations into the Sept. 11 attacks and the Jan. 6 insurrection. When asked about Epstein, he was more circumspect. Host Rachel Campos-Duffy: 'Would you declassify the Epstein files?' Trump: 'Yeah, yeah, I would. I guess I would. I think that less so, because you don't know — You don't want to affect people's lives if there's phony stuff in there, because there's a lot of phony stuff in that whole world. But I think I would, or at least—' Duffy: 'Do you think that would restore trust — help restore trust.' Trump: 'Yeah. I don't know about Epstein so much as I do the others. Certainly about the way he died. It'd be interesting to find out what happened there, because that was a weird situation and the cameras didn't happen to be working, etc., etc. But yeah, I'd go a long way toward that one.' Sept. 3, 2024 — Lex Fridman's podcast Trump was more assertive when asked by Friedman about releasing Epstein's client list. Trump: 'Yeah, I'd certainly take a look at it. … Yeah, I'd be inclined to do the Epstein, I'd have no problem with it.'Vice President J.D. Vance Trump announced Vance, a Republican Senator from Ohio, as his running mate in July 2024. 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Why would anyone protect those scum bags? Ask yourselves this question daily and the answer becomes very apparent!!' Jan. 2, 2024 — Trump Jr. on X 'Everyone knows Bill Clinton was on Jeffrey Epstein's plane and island a lot. Literally no one is at all surprised that he's all over the release. What we want to know is ALL THE OTHER NAMES that the government has been hiding & running cover for. That will actually be revealing!' Jan. 3, 2024 — Trump Jr. on X Trump Jr.: 'I keep hearing about some of the Jeffrey Epstein clients names being released today but I'd be willing to bet that something happens between now and then that prevents those names from ever coming out. You just know that's coming, though I hope to be proven wrong. June 15, 2024 — Trump Jr. at a Turning Point USA event Trump Jr.: 'I am on every list except the Epstein list. 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The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Khanna endorses Mamdani in NYC mayoral race
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USA Today
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