A new book detailing the evolving role of the first lady in the 21st century argues that former first lady Melania Trump engaged in a “power struggle” with her stepdaughter Ivanka Trump when Donald Trump was president.
“For her four years in the White House, Melania would wage an internal power struggle with her stepdaughter. Melania called her ‘the princess’ so frequently that a coterie of East Wing aides had adopted the nickname,” the book “American Woman” writes.
“American Woman,” authored by New York Times White House correspondent Katie Rogers, will officially hit store shelves Tuesday and examines how the role of first lady has evolved this century, focusing much of the book on first lady Jill Biden.
Fox News Digital reviewed the book before its release, and found it details an alleged struggle for power between former President Trump’s wife and daughter. The book argues that Melania Trump was “going to do her own thing” upon Trump being sworn in as president, including staying in New York City so their son Barron Trump could finish the school year. Trump lauded the first lady shortly after becoming president, while noting she would be bolstered by his daughter, Ivanka Trump.
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First lady Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump inside the inaugural parade reviewing stand in front of the White House on Jan. 20, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
“I think she’s going to be a fantastic first lady. She’s going to be a tremendous representative of women and of the people,” the new president said. “And helping her and working with her will be Ivanka, who is a fabulous person and a fabulous, fabulous woman,” he said in 2017.
At the start of the Trump administration, “American Woman” argues, Melania Trump monitored social media and news outlets for personal mentions, while allegedly souring at the plan to elevate Ivanka Trump’s role in the White House.
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“She was aware that her husband had suggested that his eldest daughter would be helping to share the responsibilities of being First Lady, and this was not a development that pleased her. At the time, Ivanka was staking out office space in the West Wing but was eyeing the potential of a revamped East Wing that could be geared to serving the entire First Family, not just the First Lady, according to people familiar with her plans,” the text of the book reads.
First lady Melania Trump arrives in the State Dining Room of the White House on Sept. 14, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images )
Ivanka Trump was hired as an unpaid adviser to her father in March 2017, joining her husband Jared Kushner as official government employees.
“The suggestion irritated Melania, who put a stop to the talk of a family-led wing. A month later, Ivanka announced that she would become an official government employee, working as an unpaid adviser for her father,” according to the book.
Ivanka Trump, former President Donald Trump’s daughter, leaves New York State Supreme Court after testifying at his civil trial. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
As Melania navigated her new role, she allegedly also renegotiated a prenuptial agreement, including stipulations that her son Barron Trump was guaranteed “equal footing with Donald’s other children,” according to the book, citing Washington Post journalist Mary Jordan. Jordan’s book on Melania Trump was previously panned by the first lady’s office as belonging in “the fiction genre.”
In June 2018, Melania Trump came under fire in the media after wearing a jacket with the words “I really don’t care, do U?” ahead of visiting a youth migrant detention center with her husband. The jacket’s message reportedly had no underlying message, the White House said when photos first circulated of the first lady.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk on the south lawn of the White House on Dec. 23, 2020. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images )
The book, however, claims the jacket wasn’t a message directed at the media, but instead to Ivanka Trump.
“The two were locked in a quiet competition for press coverage and, to that end, Melania did not think that it was appropriate for Trump’s children to be enmeshed in White House operations,” an excerpt reads.
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First lady Melania Trump departs Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, June 21, 2018, wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words “I really don’t care, do you?” (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images )
Overall, the book argues, Melania Trump was “frustrated and angry” with how she was portrayed by the media, and that nothing she did “would be enough to escape scrutiny,” including decorating the White House for Christmas.
“By 2020, when the pandemic was setting in, Melania had taken to wearing elegant robes at all hours. In the evenings, she would occasionally visit her husband in his bedroom, perching on his bed and listening as he placed calls to and received calls from advisers. She busied herself with assembling photo albums of her aesthetic contributions to the White House,” the book states.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Office of Donald J. Trump regarding the book and its claims, but did not immediately receive a reply.
Trump, who notched another primary win this weekend when he swept the South Carolina GOP primary, recently said the former first lady would ramp up her campaign trail appearances ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
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“It’s funny, she was a very successful model, very, very successful, and yet she was a private person. She’s going to be out a lot. Not because she likes doing it, but she likes the results,” he said last Tuesday to Fox News’ Laura Ingraham. “She wants to see this country really succeed. She loves the country.”