The latest entry in a slew of tell-all books out of the White House has been announced. First Lady Melania Trump‘s former aide and friend, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, is set to publish Melania and Me: The Rise And Fall Of My Friendship With The First Lady on September 1. Winston Wolkoff, a former Vogue PR manager, a close friend of Trump for 15 years, met the same year that she married the current president. She went on to serve as an unofficial adviser to FLOTUS. HollywoodLife has received the first look at the cover of Winston Wolkoff’s book, which you can see below. The photo featured was taken on Air Force One by Winston Wolkoff’s daughter, Alexi Winston Wolkoff, when she was 11 years old.
Despite their once close friendship, a source told the Daily Beast that Trump’s former confidante’s book is “largely negative and that the manuscript heavily trashes the first lady.” Winston Wolkoff was once an influential presence in the East Wing of the White House — she even advised Trump on the name of her “Be Best” initiative and planned the 2017 Inauguration. In fact, a source EXCLUSIVELY tells HollywoodLife that, “the book will set the record straight on what Winston Wolkoff’s experience was as the Executive Producer of the 58th Presidential Inauguration Committee.”
Their relationship dissolved in 2018 after The New York Times reported that her company was paid $26 million by Trump’s Inauguration committee. She vehemently denied the article’s claims. “Was I fired? No,” Winston Wolkoff told The New York Times in 2019. “Did I personally receive $26 million or $1.6 million? No. Was I thrown under the bus? Yes.” After Winston Wolkoff’s departure from the White House, FLOTUS apparently sent her an apologetic email.
“I am sorry that the professional part of our relationship has come to an end, but I am comforted in the fact that our [friendship] far outweigh[s] politics,” Trump wrote. “Thank you Again! Much love.” Trump is reportedly “unhappy” with the news of Winston Wolkoff’s book, according to a source who spoke to CNN. They added that “this won’t end well” if she reveals private information about their relationship.
Melania and Me, according to HollywoodLife‘s source, will also give readers insight into Ivanka Trump. They describe the book as “the first insider narrative of what Melania and Ivanka are really like as people, and how each of them plays a role in Donald’s life.” A recent Trump tell-all, The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump, revealed that the stepmother and stepdaughter often traded barbs privately.
HollywoodLife reached out to the East Wing for comment on this story.