Melania Trump: The Truth About Her Marriage

The first lady's former friend writes about her relationship with Donald

- Kylie Walters

Despite being one of the most photographed women in the world, after nearly four years in the White House Melania Trump remains a mystery. While the cool and icy exterior of the US First Lady, 50, has sparked claims she’s trapped in a sham marriage – and inspired the “Free Melania” movement – the woman who knows her best has claimed she is perfectly content in her life with Donald Trump.

Stephanie Winston Wolkoff became the former model’s closest confidante after they met in 2003 when she worked at US Vogue as a PR manager. “She’s not unhappy. She’s complicit. She’s the same as her husband,” she revealed in an interview with 60 Minutes about her tell-all memoir, Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady.

At the time of their meeting, Melania Knauss had been dating the then-business mogul for around three years and was months away from announcing their engagement. What developed between the women was a 15-year friendship, which included monthly lunches and ski holidays. Wolkoff watched as her friend miraculously transformed from model to wife to First Lady – or as she writes in her book, “from gold plated to 24-carat”.