Melania Trump, seemingly striking out on her own, has come to be viewed as a “liability” in Donald Trump’s White House, according to the president’s biographer.
“The Melania of it all... has now become a matter of serious concern,” author Michael Wolff said on the Inside Trump’s Head podcast.
The 56-year-old first lady, who once kept a relatively low profile beside her inflammatory, attention-seeking husband, has suddenly inserted herself into the public eye this year.
Her new life in the spotlight—marked by an ultra-expensive Melania movie, a bombshell announcement denying ties to Jeffrey Epstein, and a budding feud with Jimmy Kimmel—is rankling people in the White House, according to Wolff.
“I’m having discussions with people I know in the White House, and there is a different side—a very different side—and it’s a side that is, is very concerning,” Wolff told co-host Joanna Coles.
He said that Melania has, until now, been regarded as a political “plus” for Trump.
According to Wolff, Melania’s detractors in the White House trace her evolution into a political liability back to her documentary, which was released after a black-carpet premiere attended by much of the Trump administration.
“They feel that this that this has really engendered quite a bit of blowback,” Wolff said. “Number one, because the movie is ridiculous.”
Jeff Bezos’ Amazon forked over $40 million for the rights to the documentary and later shelled out an additional $35 million for marketing, fueling corruption questions surrounding Trump.
Melania’s next public turn came on April 9, when she abruptly gathered reporters at the White House to read a prepared statement denying ties to Epstein—reportedly to the surprise of White House staffers and even to her husband, who has desperately sought to move past questions about his friendship with Epstein.
While Melania used her shock statement to deny ties, Wolff noted that she instead “managed to squarely put herself into the Epstein story.”
Moreover, the first lady ended her statement with a call for Congress to hold a hearing with Epstein’s victims, even though her husband has avoided meeting them for months.
Wolff suggested that while Melania’s campaign this week to get Kimmel fired was an “effort to gain some sympathy,” it’s already being viewed inside the White House as a misstep.
In a fiery X post Monday, Melania demanded Kimmel’s dismissal after he joked about the first lady having the “glow like an expectant widow” in a Thursday segment, two days prior to the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
“In this conversation this morning… with White House people, they see this Kimmel thing as also something that is, that is backfiring,” Wolff said, adding that insiders believe it plays badly for the president by making Trump look like a “crybaby” willing to undermine the First Amendment.
When reached for comment, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung sent the Daily Beast a recycled statement:
“Michael Wolff is a lying sack of s--- and has been proven to be a fraud. He routinely fabricates stories originating from his sick and warped imagination, only possible because he has a severe and debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his peanut-sized brain.”
A spokesman for President Trump’s legal team told the Daily Beast: “Michael Wolff is a serial liar whose malicious, defamatory, and false statements have forced the Daily Beast to make multiple retractions. By repeating these latest lies, the Daily Beast and its reporters are making clear that they have not learned their lesson.”
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