Melania and Me

The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady

By: Stephanie Winston Wolkoff

Narrated by: Stephanie Winston Wolkoff

Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

Number-One New York Times Best Seller

What Melania wants, Melania gets.

The former director of special events at Vogue and producer of nine legendary Met Galas, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff met Melania Knauss in 2003 and had a front row seat to the transformation of Donald Trump’s then-girlfriend from a rough-cut gem to a precious diamond. As their friendship deepened over lunches at Manhattan hot spots, black-tie parties, and giggle sessions in the penthouse at Trump Tower, Wolkoff watched the newest Mrs. Trump raise her son, Barron, and manage her highly scrutinized marriage.

After Trump won the 2016 election, Wolkoff was recruited to help produce the 58th Presidential Inaugu­ration and to become the First Lady’s trusted advisor. Melania put Wolkoff in charge of hiring her staff, organizing her events, helping her write speeches, and creating her debut initiatives. Then it all fell apart when she was made the scapegoat for inauguration finance irregularities. Melania could have defended her innocent friend and confidant, but she stood by her man, knowing full well who was really to blame. The betrayal nearly destroyed Wolkoff.

In this candid and emotional memoir, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff takes you into Trump Tower and the White House to tell the funny, thrilling, and heartbreaking story of her intimate friendship with one of the most famous women in the world, a woman few people truly understand.

How did Melania react to the Access Hollywood tape and her husband’s affair with Stormy Daniels? Does she get along well with Ivanka? Why did she wear that jacket with "I really don’t care, do u?" printed on the back? Is Melania happy being First Lady? And what really happened with the inauguration’s funding of $107 million? Wolkoff has some ideas....

©2020 Power of Every Woman LLC. All rights reserved. (P)2020 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

AUTHOR IS AN ENGAGING NARRATOR

I skipped the first 2 hours based on the first few negative reviews (likely Trumpers). She is engaging and her own life is fascinating. As soon as I get to the end, I am going back to the beginning. I wasn't planning on getting this one until Rachel Maddow had her on her show and we're discussing it. A "friend" of Melania held no credibility to me, but if Rachel Maddow thinks it is worth a read - I AM IN!! Nothing can compare to Mary Trump's smart Too Much and Never Enough, but this is still getting 5 🌟 from me.

First hand corroboration of many other books & new proof

This does support the books and stories about the trump family we’ve read so of the before. It also adds much new and first hand information. Very candid. Well worth the time and price. Recommend for everyone

Eye Opening

Im happy I bought this book. It has been enlightening to say the least. I admit I was one of those people who read the stories about the Melania friend who pocketed 26 million from the inaugural and wondered if/when she would be brought to account for it.

I used to often think poor melania, being in that family of snakes. But it turns out that she just may be the coldest snake of them all. As her jacket summed it up, she really just doesnt care.

She's happy with her husband and excuses and accepts his abhorrent behaviour. The only redeeming thing I got from this book about her is that she loves her son.

The book describes Ivanka and Jared as the manipulative people always working behind the scenes. With Ivanka ridiculously inserting herself anywhere, anyplace, at any event she could to cement her place of power right next to daddy, usurping her stepmother at any chance she could.

There have not been many personal accounts of Melania Trump and this book is important in that we get a look at her from someone who has been close friends with her for many years.

The author is just like all the others who orbit the Trumps, excusing and accepting of their behaviour while they are in favor and once thrown under the bus, seem surprised it happened to them.

Trump once recited the song lyrics of Oscar Brown Jr called "The Snake", I can think of nothing more than this to describe the entire Trump clan.

Lyrics
On her way to work one morning
Down the path along side the lake
A tender hearted woman saw a poor half frozen snake
His pretty colored skin had been all frosted with the dew
"Poor thing, " she cried, "I'll take you in and I'll take care of you"

She wrapped him up all cozy, in a comforter of silk
And laid him by her fireside with some honey and some milk
She hurried home from work that night and soon as she arrived
She found that pretty snake she'd taken to, had been revived

She clutched him to her bosom, "You're so beautiful, " she cried
"But if I hadn't brought you in by now you might have died"
She stroked his pretty skin again and kissed and held him tight
Instead of saying thanks, the snake gave her a vicious bite

"I saved you" cried the woman
"And now your bite is poisonous and now I'm going to die"
"Oh shut up, silly woman" said the reptile with a grin

"You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in"

Worth The Read!

A lot of additional facts about the characters and rivalries inside the East and West Wing of the Trump WH. Wolkoff is not at all how the NYT and Maggie Haberman portrayed her. She really is a victim...albeit a gullible victim of the whole Trump Family and cabal.
What I found interesting was how experienced Wolkoff is, not the amateur "event planner" the media and the WH have portrayed her as, but rather a true professional having worked at Vogue doing all their major events like the MOMA, under Anna Wintour, for over a decade.
The revelations about missing Trump inauguration funds is also at the heart of the book. A lot of surprises...and Wolkoff has the receipts! Worth it!

Rating before I return it. Please leave this review in.

The narrator author was easy to listen too. I’m returning it after an hour. If I wanted to listen to an autobiography of the author, I would have looked for one. Based on the hour of listening, I’m guessing the author needed to turn a one hour book, into an 11 hour book, to justify publishing it. The author apparently has a very inflated sense of self importance, believing the reader/ listener would be interested in her life.

The real Melania Trump

What a heart-breaking rendition of life in the Trump inner circle! We see this pattern over and over in Trump world but this time we see that Melania is not a victim and that we should feel no empathy for her. She knew what she was getting into with Donald Trump and, in the end, she was willing to through friendship and loyalty away for the trappings of game and fortune.

Wonderful Story Teller

This a detailed story; however, the details don’t disrupt the story being told. It felt smooth and thorough.

Really glad I read this book

When I first read the New York Times and other stories about the author, I was left with the distinct impression that she was a corporate gold-digger that took advantage of the inauguration. In fact, when I decided to read the book, I was skeptical and wondered where the book would go. Thankfully, I bought it and read the entire book on the day it was released. I am really glad I read it. I found the author very credible and I must admit that I believe her story. Too many details, and many years of a very strange White House, convinced me of her tenacity. I am really glad to see what I believe is the truth. Thank you for sharing your story. It's good for you, each of your readers and the country. I'm glad you wrote the book.

Boring!

I have to admit I didn’t finish this book. It’s all I could do to get through a few chapters. If you want to know all about the author then this book is for you. She does nothing but brag about herself and name drops about how people feel about her. This book should be called All About Stephanie. I would recommend you pass on this book. Total waste of time and money. Even her voice is boring!

Naive

The writer said it herself “I broke my back, literally, for a emojis.”

For such an accomplished woman to have such a weirdly unbalanced friendship with basically a well-dressed ice cube is frustrating. But more power to her. Live and learn. Feel so badly for her. Hope she gets back on track.