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Melania Trump delayed move to DC so she could renegotiate prenup with president, book says

'This book belongs in the fiction genre,' first lady's chief of staff says

John T. Bennett
Washington Bureau Chief
Friday 12 June 2020 19:40 BST
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Trump appears to ask Melania to smile during visit to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine

First Lady Melania Trump delayed her 2017 move to Washington so she could renegotiate the terms of her prenuptial agreement with Donald Trump.

That's what Mary Jordan, a Washington Post reporter, says in a new book that describes Ms Trump's efforts to "amend her financial agreement with [the president] – what Melania referred to as 'taking care of Barron."

That's the first couple's son, who then was 10 years old.

A spokesman for the First Lady, however, dismissed it as a work of fiction.

Among other tidbits, the book reports the first lady wanted her husband to state in writing that Barron would not be shut out of the Trump family business. She wanted a guarantee he would be treated the same as Mr Trump's adult children.

What's more, the book reports Ms Trump needed time to herself after her husband's alleged sexual dalliances with other women.

Ms Jordan's book, titled "The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump," is based on more than 100 interviews.

Speculation has swirled around Washington since Mr Trump was elected that his wife insisted on a revised prenuptial pact before she – and young Barron – would join him in the capital city.

The first lady's chief of staff said the contents of the book are not true.

"Yet another book about Mrs. Trump with false information and sources," Stephanie Grisham, a former White House press secretary who moved back to the East Wing this year, said in a statement to CNN. "This book belongs in the fiction genre."

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