Melania Trump's Ex-BFF Reveals How She Reacted To Donald Trump's Infamous Access Hollywood Tape
Ex-BFF Stephanie Winston Wolkoff once attacked Donald Trump and Melania Trump, spilling that the duo were like two peas in a pod and seemingly shared the same humor. In her book, Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady, Wolkoff opened up about the former model's reaction to her husband's infamous Access Hollywood tape where he talked about 'grabbing women by the p***y.'
In the words of Wolkoff, the former First Lady was 'unfazed' by Trump's offensive remark, which became public in 2016. Although Wolkoff neither accepted nor denied secretly recording the Slovanian's reaction, she admitted that she expected Melania to be 'in tears,' which, to her surprise, was not the case. Speaking to ABC News, Wolkoff revealed that she met Melania right after the tape became public, and the FLOTUS appeared 'radiant' and 'smiling': "It was as if nothing happened." Wolkoff continued, "I said to her, how many times have you heard the words 'p***y' and president in the same sentence? And we burst out laughing."
The former adviser elaborated, "Are you upset, and doesn't it get you angry?'" But then, referring to Melania as a pragmatist, she revealed her friend's response: "If you can't control people's emotions, then why even worry about it." Wolkoff explained 'this is how [Melania] she is... And that's how she lived her life, and that is what she stood by every day." According to her ex-friend, Melania was someone who 'exuded' confidence and 'gives you that confidence'. Wolkoff summarised, "She knows who she married [and] what she was getting into, and so did he."
Back in 2016, when Trump was set to face his rival, Hilary Clinton, audio in which he was making crude remarks about women was released by Access Hollywood. The Washington Post posted the clip of his interview with then-host Billy Bush, talking about kissing and grabbing women without permission because he was 'attracted to them like a magnet.' The GOP candidate boasted, "When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything." He continued, "I'm automatically attracted to beautiful—I just start kissing them...Just kiss. I don't even wait. Grab them by the p****. You can do anything."
Here is my statement. pic.twitter.com/WAZiGoQqMQ
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2016
Following the backlash, the ex-president released a statement on X, formerly Twitter, defending himself and apologizing: "Anyone who knows me knows these words don't reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong and I apologize." He insisted that he has changed and that "I pledge to be a better man tomorrow and will never let you down."
In her book, Wolkoff criticized the Trump family for 'deceit [and] deception.' She said, "Everyone does need to know what...this presidency is doing and what this propaganda machine behind this man at the White House is doing." Wolkloff warns, "It was amateur hour then, and it's amateur hour now, and I think it's really frightening for our country."
Editor's note: This article was originally published on March 23, 2024. It has since been updated.