Melania Trump’s stylist received more than $200,000 from her husband’s PAC leadership for “strategic advice,” new documents show
- PACs and political parties filed federal election reports Monday
- Trump entities are spending more than he brought in this quarter
- Save America Pac paid French stylist Hervé Pierre Braillard in $18,000 increments
The pro-Trump Save America PAC has paid more than $200,000 to the French-born stylist who designed former first lady Melania Trump’s inaugural ball gown, government filings show.
The PAC made the payments in monthly increments of $18,000 to designer Hervé Pierre Braillard, calling them “strategic advice.” That’s $108,000 in the first half of 2023 alone.
Braillard designed Melania’s ivory white inaugural ball gown in 2017 which she later donated to the Smithsonian.
The Federal Election Commission does not require a more detailed explanation for the expenditure, so the nature of the strategy offered was not immediately clear.
The ‘consulting’ language itself seems to be derived from the previous model.
The Save America PAC paid $108,000 to the French-born stylist for former first lady Melania Trump in the first half of 2023
Herve spoke Fashion magazine in 2017, saying she was “adamant” that he’s more than a stylist.
“My role is to dress the First Lady and advise her – I’m not a stylist; I am an advisor and she is a firm believer in that,’ says Hervé. “As a free woman, who will be told what to wear? It’s a conversation, a collaboration. Without intellectualizing, my advice is respectful and logical.’
The PAC paid Hervé another $132,000 last year, Fox news reported, bringing the total since President Trump’s departure to $240,000.
Melania may have been advised to keep her distance from her husband: She hasn’t appeared by his side since he launched his re-election campaign at his Mar-a-Lago club.
The club’s chief of maintenance faced federal court in Miami on Monday on conspiracy charges, and the former president himself has received a “target” letter regarding a Jan. 6 investigation by special counsel Jack Smith.
Hervé Pierre Braillard designed Melania’s inaugural ball gown for 2017
Payments came in monthly installments of $18,000
The designer has publicly gambled about his client
Melania has not been seen in public with her husband since he launched his re-election campaign
The ivory dress received critical acclaim and Melania donated it to the Smithsonian
The filing comes in a quarterly report that helped shed light on the “burn rate” Donald Trump is going through as Trump entities shift money as they help fund Trump’s mountain of legal bills.
Trump’s Joint Fundraising Committee reported raising $54 million in the first half of 2023, Politico reported.
But Trump’s committee and two other affiliates, including Save America, had spent a combined $57 million in the same six months.
Make America Great Again Inc. pulled in $15 million during that time, fueled by Trump’s attacks on investigators, but ended up spending $26 million.
The New York Times called Save America, which started the year with $105 million in the bank, “nearly broke.” It has only $4 million in the bank amid Trump’s costly legal defense.