Melania Trump’s former adviser reveals how she thinks the former first lady will react to the verdict and whether she will attend the July 11 sentencing
Melania Trump has kept quiet following Donald Trump’s conviction, but one of her former top advisers predicts she was not surprised by her husband’s behavior.
‘Melania knew exactly who she married. She knew this was a transactional marriage. She became a top model. He became a loving, devoted father, and it helped them win the White House,” Stephanie Winston Wolkoff told CNN.
Wolkoff worked with Melania in the White House in the early years of the Trump administration. The two had a friendship dating back to their days in New York, but fell out during Trump’s presidency. They no longer speak and Wolkoff wrote a tell-all memoir about her time with the Trumps.
“I think she’s telling him exactly how she feels,” Wolkoff predicted of the former first lady.
She also said she expects to see Melania at her husband’s sentencing on July 11, which acts as a “distraction.”
“I really believe she will show up and it will be the art of distraction. “It will shine a bright light on Melania when it’s needed most, when there are other things happening in Donald’s life that need to be overshadowed,” she said.
“I do believe she will show up and it will be the art of distraction,” Stephanie Winston Wolkoff told CNN’s Abby Phillips when asked if Melania will appear at Trump’s July 11 sentencing.
It is unclear where Melania Trump is. This time of year, the Trump family is usually camped out at their spot on the former president’s golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Mar-a-Lago is closed for the season, but Melania has private rooms there where she can stay. Or she could be in Trump Tower in New York. Or she could be anywhere.
Melania’s office did not respond to DailyMail.com’s repeated requests for comment.
And it’s unclear when she might be seen again.
Meanwhile, Trump will be sentenced four days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he will formally accept the Republican Party’s presidential nomination.
It is unclear whether Melania will attend the convention or address it as she did in 2016 and 2020. Barron Trump was originally selected as a delegate from Florida, but Melania later announced he would not serve as a delegate due to “prior commitments.”
She does not want to say exactly what those commitments are. Barron Trump graduated from high school earlier this month. The Trumps have not said where he will attend college or what his future plans are.
The former first lady has remained silent throughout the process.
She and son Barron are the only Trump members not appearing in court with the former president or posting supportive messages on social media.
Don Jr., Eric and Tiffany all appeared in court. Ivanka Trump posted a four-word message on Instagram Thursday evening in support of her father: “I love you, Dad.”
Melania Trump was last seen in public with her husband on May 17, at their son Barron’s graduation; Melania’s father Viktor (left) was also present
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff and Melania Trump became friends in New York
Trump was convicted on charges related to a payout to porn star Stormy Daniels (above), who claimed to have an affair with Trump
But in the hush-money trial — in which Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records — her husband paid porn star Stormy Daniels to silence her during the 2016 election over claims of an affair.
Trump denies sleeping with Daniels, claiming it happened in 2006, shortly after Melania gave birth to Barron.
But Trump’s then-fixer Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 during the election to keep her quiet about the story.
When the payment was announced in 2017, Melania was said to be blind.
She made her feelings known by canceling on Trump and refusing to go with him to the World Economic Forum in Davos even though she was supposed to attend. Instead, she fled behind the walls of Mar-a-Lago, their Palm Beach estate.
But Melania Trump is said to be following media coverage of the trial. However, it was also believed that she saw it as her husband’s problem and not hers.
She was last seen in public with Donald Trump on May 17, when their son Barron Trump graduated from high school.