Melania Trump was “humiliated” by Donald Trump’s affair with Stormy Daniels and will “pressure” him to take the stand and “defend himself,” one of her former aides said.
“I spent a lot of time with her when the news broke about Stormy Daniels,” Stephanie Grisham said on CNN on Wednesday. “And she didn’t take it lightly at all.”
During Melania Trump’s time as first lady, Grisham served as her spokesperson and chief of staff before resigning on the day of the Jan. 6 insurrection. ‘
‘I imagine she’s pressuring him to stop this. I imagine she will pressure him to take the stand and defend himself,” Grisham said.
‘Because this is very, very embarrassing for her. It’s humiliating for her and I guarantee you she’s not happy right now and he’s pretty worried about it.
Melania Trump was ‘humiliated’ by Donald Trump’s affair with Stormy Daniels – above the couple at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday
The former president on Tuesday lost his second desperate attempt to delay his April 15 trial on criminal charges stemming from hush payments to the former porn star during the 2016 election.
The trial will mark the first time in history that a former president will be criminally prosecuted in court.
Trump faces 34 felony charges in the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who seeks to accuse Trump of using his business records to conceal the payment of $130,000 to Daniels to maintain his silence.
Daniels claimed she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, shortly after Melania gave birth to their son Barron.
The payments were allegedly made to prevent Daniels from speaking publicly about the matter in the final weeks of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump denies the matter and calls the trial a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
Prosecutors, however, argue that Trump reimbursed his then-attorney Michael Cohen in a series of installment payments processed by his company, which prosecutors say were fraudulently disguised as corporate legal expenses in violation of New York law.
Daniels and Cohen are expected to take the stand as prosecution witnesses once the trial begins.
It is not yet clear whether Trump will testify. The case is expected to last about six weeks.
Stormy Daniels in New York last month: claims she had an affair with Trump in 2006
Stephanie Grisham served in the Trump White House for nearly all four years of his presidency: she was Melania’s spokesperson and then her chief of staff.
The payment to Daniels came to light in 2018, when the Wall Street Journal published the details.
At the time, Melania was first lady and was reportedly caught off guard by the report.
She made a last-minute cancellation to accompany the president on his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which many saw as a sign of her anger toward him.
And notably, she also traveled to Trump’s State of the Union address that year separately from her husband, a break from tradition.
The then-first lady wore a white pantsuit to the event, an outfit that came under repeated scrutiny. Many noted that the pantsuit was the type of outfit that Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump’s 2016 rival, made famous during the election campaign.
Additionally, white is the color of suffragettes, and during the Trump presidency, women adopted it as a kind of anti-Trump uniform.
Melania also attended that year’s State of the Union address on the arm of a handsome military aide – who, in her memoir, “I’ll answer your questions now,” Grisham noted that Melania had carefully chosen the especially handsome assistant to make Trump jealous.
In his book, Grisham also recalled Melania’s refusal to comment on Daniels’ story, saying the then-first lady told her, “This is Donald’s problem.” She got herself into this mess. He can fix it himself.
Donald Trump, seen in New York last month, lost a last-minute appeal to delay his April 15 trial.
Melania Trump, in 2018, shortly after Stormy Daniel’s allegations came to light, entered her husband’s State of the Union address on the arm of a handsome military aide.
Grisham also wrote that Melania Trump told him, ‘I don’t want to be like Hillary Clinton, do you know what I mean?’ He said Melania was referring to Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky and the now infamous 1998 photo of Hillary, Bill and Chelsea holding hands as they walked to Marine One together.
“She walked to Marine One holding her husband’s hand after the Monica news and she didn’t look good,” Grisham said Melania Trump told her.