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We know President Donald Trump, 74, and First Lady Melania Trump, 50, from their public personas — the awkward PDA, the tense joint appearances, his bizarre bravado and her stoicism. But behind closed curtains at the White House? Not so much. A number of must-read books about Melania and Donald’s private lives hit bookshelves in 2019 and 2020, and we’ve gathered the best of the best. From a psychological dive into Donald’s past, and a tell-all from Melania’s BFF, you’re not going to want to put these down:
1. Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady
If you’ve ever wondered what Melania was really thinking when she heard that Access Hollywood tape of her husband Donald making vulgar comments about groping women, you’re in luck. The First Lady’s former BFF, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, shares the mom-of-one’s jaw-dropping reaction in her juicy tell-all, Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady.
Wolkoff and Melania’s 15-year friendship was left in tatters after she was accused of pocketing $26 million (via her firm) for helping to plan President Trump’s January 2017 inauguration. It’s an allegation that she denies and she has receipts to prove it. Wolkoff has other receipts – text messages and (according to her Sept. 1 MSNBC interview with Rachel Maddow) taped conversations. All allegedly revealing Melania’s closely guarded tidbits, like why she wore that “I don’t really care” jacket and more. A must-read. $17, amazon.com
2. The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump
With an exhaustive look into Melania’s pre-Donald life and journey to the White House, Washington Post reporter Mary Jordan works to destroy the “Free Melania” trope and prove that the First Lady’s not complacent — she’s complicit. The Art of Her Deal, a play on Donald’s famed 1987 memoir, dissects the Trumps’ relationship and reveals the power and influence Melania supposedly wields over her husband, like renegotiating her prenup before moving to the White House. $17, amazon.com
3. Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man
Who better to reveal the inner workings of the Trump family than one of the Trumps themselves? Mary Trump, the president’s estranged niece, uses her background as a psychologist to dissect how being the son of a ruthless shark, Fred Trump, molded Donald into the man he is today: a “three-year-old” who is “incapable of growing, learning, or evolving, unable to regulate his emotions, moderate his responses, or take in and synthesize information.”
In Too Much and Never Enough, Mary describes a cold and brutal upbringing for Donald and his siblings, including her late father, Fred Jr. After her grandfather’s death in 1999, Mary and her brother learned that they had been excluded from his will, and their cordial relationship with Donald turned frosty. The Trump family tried and failed, to block the book’s publication. It’s unsurprising that this fascinating read sold over one million copies in the first 24 hours after its release. $17, amazon.com
4. Free, Melania – The Unauthorized Biography
Emphasis on unauthorized. Journalist Kate Bennett‘s Free, Melania reveals intimate details about the First Lady’s interactions with the women around her, alleging that she has an “icy” relationship with Second Lady Karen Pence, and that the “I don’t really care” jacket was a jab at stepdaughter Ivanka Trump. In fact, all of Melania’s fashion choices are conscious, according to Bennett. That “pussy bow” blouse Melania wore after the Access Hollywood tape dropped? That wasn’t an accident. $13, amazon.com
5. Disloyal: A Memoir
Donald’s former lawyer puts it bluntly in the foreword of his scathing account of his 12 years working for the president: “I know where the skeletons are buried because I’m the one that buried them.” Michael Cohen has a remarkable memory, detailing dozens of business meetings with The Apprentice host turned Commander in Chief, who he once felt honored working for. And it’s not pretty. From calling his teenage daughter a “piece of ass,” to allegedly saying that Black and Hispanic voters were “stupid,” the book is full of revelations that will shock even the most cynical reader. $22, amazon.com
