As I reflect on the recent, sad, cynical “tell-all” by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, the former part-time advisor to First Lady Melania Trump, I cannot help but be stunned by this latest betrayal of the Trump family.
Once again, the American people are subjected to blatantly self-serving acts from a disgruntled, fired former temporary employee. Winston Wolkoff’s ludicrous ravings are laid out in a deeply fictitious book just two months before a presidential election — an election in which so much is at stake for our country.
Not only is the content of the book salaciously untrue, but the timing only serves to highlight one bitter New York socialite’s desire to capitalize on the Trump name and feed her desperate need to appear relevant.
A couple of facts about the book’s author that are not found on the inside dust jacket of this faux insider’s personal revenge piece: After election night in 2016, Ms. Wolkoff reached out numerous times to request meetings with the future First Lady of the United States, desperately seeking a place for herself on our winning team. It was Ms. Wolkoff herself, an event planner living in New York City, who relentlessly pushed her own name forward to work on President Trump’s inauguration.
Once she was allowed to be affiliated with the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC), Ms. Wolkoff, and her whole team, were a disaster to work with.
From rogue attempts to take over huge swaths of the planning process, to unexplained fees and charges, to angry outbursts at inaugural staff who were working long, hard hours, to clumsy outreach to members of the media, Ms. Wolkoff and her group were a troubling and deeply destabilizing presence.
As has been made clear on the record by White House officials, Mrs. Trump had no involvement in the financial dealings of the PIC. So when The New York Times reported that Ms. Wolkoff’s company had received millions of dollars in a possibly improper way, the First Lady could not possibly have had any direct knowledge regarding the veracity of the allegations.
At that point, the White House appropriately terminated the volunteer agreement between Ms. Wolkoff and the First Lady’s Office. Mrs. Trump did what the American people would expect of their First Lady: she put the institution of the White House and the good of the country ahead of a personal relationship. Ms. Wolkoff’s recent bizarre behavior proves to all of us that she lacks the moral compass to tell the difference between public service and personal aggrandizement.
In fact, the only lesson learned here is that Ms. Wolkoff does not have the character or the integrity to hold personal or professional roles of any real substance or responsibility. Ms. Wolkoff proves this through her petulant behavior in angry media interviews and overly dramatic public statements regarding her former “friendship” with the First Lady.
Most shockingly and disappointingly, she has openly admitted to secretly recording private conversations with the First Lady of the United States.
What legitimate reason could Ms. Wolkoff have had to engage in such deceitful, dishonest behavior? Was this final act of betrayal and shameless self-promotion that she calls a book something she had planned all along?
It seems fair to assume that no matter how her affiliation with the First Lady ultimately ended, Ms. Wolkoff intended to use the relationship and the thin veneer of relevance she derived form it for her own personal profit.
It is time to dismiss Ms. Wolkoff’s discredited drivel and focus on issues that matter to America and Americans.
Boris Epshteyn served as Communications Director for the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee, is a former Special Assistant to President Trump, and a Strategic Advisor for Trump 2020.