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Melania’s secret service nickname was Rapunzel for never leaving the White House, Grisham book claims

Several alleged instances of the relationship between the former first couple are also mentioned

Stuti Mishra
Thursday 30 September 2021 10:38 BST
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Related: Stephanie Grisham Book Says Trump Told Putin He Would Act Tough With Him ‘For the Cameras’
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Former first lady Melania Trump was nicknamed “Rapunzel” by the secret service because she rarely left “her tower, aka the White House residence.”

Stephanie Grisham, a former White House press secretary and former chief of staff for Ms Trump, made the claim in an explosive 352-page book, a copy of which was obtained by the Washington Post.

Her book, “I’ll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw at the Trump White House,” which is set to be released in October, has made headlines for several eye-popping details and an unflattering portrayal of Donald Trump, his family members, and staff.

The book claims the former first lady spent most of her time either in the White House, with her parents or with her son Barron, leading to the secret service calling her “Rapunzel,” after the character from the popular fairy tale, who was locked up in a tower.

When Ms Trump wasn’t spending time with her family, she worked on her photo albums, which Ms Grisham called one of “her two children.”

The book also claimed Ms Trump spent two hours recreating a ribbon cutting for the White House tennis pavilion because she did not get the right shot in previous attempts. During the Capitol riots, the former first lady reportedly worked on a photo shoot of a rug.

Secret service agents often allegedly requested to be on the former first lady’s detail because that would mean they got more time with their families.

Ms Grisham also pointed to several alleged instances of the relationship between the former first couple in the book.

An entire chapter was dedicated to the saga around Ms Trump’s controversial 2018 jacket, which had “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” emblazoned on it.

Ms Trump was reportedly upset with her husband’s migrant policy, something the former president did not take kindly to.

The former first lady wanted to see for herself how the family separation policy was affecting children at the border, according to Ms Grisham.

Ms Trump made a widely reported visit to the Texas-Mexico border where she was photographed meeting migrant children while wearing the $39 Zara jacket, which was ordered by her online “for reasons that still remain a mystery,” according to Ms Grisham.

Mr Trump, after witnessing the controversy Ms Trump’s visit generated, summoned her and Ms Grisham.

He then reportedly screamed at them, saying “what the [expletive]” did they think they were doing.

The former president then opted for damage control and tweeted saying the jacket was a message to the “Fake News Media.”

Ms Grisham also touched upon Mr Trump’s alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels, the former first lady’s reaction to it and how it “unleashed” her to publicly embarrass her husband.

She walked into his first State of the Union address arm-in-arm with a handsome military aide hand-selected by Ms Grisham, who said the first lady needed help because the Capitol building’s floors were too slippery.

“I laughed to myself because I’d seen the woman navigate dirt roads in her heels,” Ms Grisham said.

In another instance, Ms Grisham had drafted a tweet for Ms Trump, which requested privacy for her, as she was concentrating on being a mother, wife and first lady.

Ms Trump, however, reportedly told Ms Grisham to remove the word “wife” from the draft tweet.

Spokespeople for both Mr Trump and the former first lady have issued statements discrediting the contents of Ms Grisham’s book and denounced her as a “vengeful former employee seeking a payday.”

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