Melania’s Ex-Confidante Reveals ‘Operation Block Ivanka’ and Tensions Within the Trump Family
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Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former close friend and confidante of Melania Trump, shared revealing details about a supposed feud between the former First Lady and her stepdaughter, Ivanka Trump, in her memoir Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady.
An excerpt from the 2020 book, published in New York Magazine, described an alleged effort to keep Ivanka out of key moments during Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration, humorously dubbed “Operation Block Ivanka.”
Wolkoff wrote, “We were all exhausted and stressed out. Yes, ‘Operation Block Ivanka’ was petty. Melania was in on this mission. But in our minds, Ivanka shouldn’t have made herself the center of attention at her father’s inauguration.”
Wolkoff also revealed that Melania often referred to Ivanka as “Princess” and was determined to keep her stepdaughter out of the East Wing. “It was Donald’s inauguration, not Ivanka’s,” Wolkoff continued, adding that no one was willing to confront Ivanka about her desire to steer the event.
Melania was reportedly frustrated that Ivanka had inserted herself into the Pennsylvania Avenue parade with her children. According to Wolkoff, Melania’s decision to launch “Operation Block Ivanka” was triggered after Ivanka sent her a picture of Barack Obama’s family at his inauguration, with the comment, “It’s nice to have family with him for this special moment.”
Melania and Wolkoff then rearranged the Trump family’s standing positions during the swearing-in ceremony to keep the two women apart. The memoir also alleges that Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, who both worked in the White House, tried to secure office space in the East Wing, traditionally the First Lady’s domain.
Wolkoff claimed that Ivanka sought to dominate Melania’s role, describing her as wanting to be the “First Daughter Lady.” Wolkoff further alleged that Ivanka used a private email server for official White House business, paralleling the controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election.
“Would anyone chant ‘Lock her up!’ about Ivanka’s private server? Doubtful,” Wolkoff wrote, criticizing the Trumps for their hypocrisy. However, White House representatives dismissed the claims in Wolkoff’s book.
A source told People that Ivanka had no intention of taking over the East Wing, and a former spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, insisted, “Ivanka and Mrs. Trump have always shared a close relationship.”
Wolkoff initially brought on to assist with Trump’s inauguration and serve as Melania’s advisor, claimed that their relationship soured when she was used as a “scapegoat” for financial mismanagement around inaugural events.
