Notes

PROLOGUE: “I HAVE AN OPINION”

1. “I moved on her, actually”: David A. Fahrenthold, “Trump Recorded Having Extremely Lewd Conversation About Women in 2005,” Washington Post, October 8, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-recorded-having-extremely-lewd-conversation-about-women-in-2005/2016/10/07/3b9ce776-8cb4-11e6-bf8a3d26847eeed4_story.html.
2. “She was the elephant”: Chris Christie, interview with author, New Jersey, April 8, 2019.
3. “The words my husband used”: Jenna Johnson, “Melania Trump Hopes Voters Will Accept Her Husband’s Apology for His ‘Unacceptable and Offensive’ Comments About Women,” Washington Post, October 8, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/10/08/melania-trump-hopes-voters-will-accept-her-husbands-apology-for-his-unacceptable-and-offensive-comments-about-women/.
4. “I WILL NEVER DROP”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, October 8, 2016, 3:40 p.m., https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/784840992734064641.
5. “This is not some wallflower”: Chris Christie interview.
6. “I said it, I was wrong”: Jenna Johnson, “Trump Apologizes for ‘Foolish’ Comments About Women, Then Attacks the Clintons,” Washington Post, October 8, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/10/08/trump-apologizes-for-foolish-comments-about-women-then-attacks-the-clintons/.
7. “locker-room talk”: Robert Costa and Philip Rucker, “Second Presidential Debate Takes the Low Road as Attacks and Slurs Dominate,” Washington Post, October 9, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/second-presidential-debate-takes-the-low-road-as-attacks-and-slurs-dominate/2016/10/09/d0ad5c3a-8e29-11e6-9c85-ac42097b8cc0_story.html.
8. “She makes good choices”: Marina Masowietsky, interview with author, Los Angeles, February 18, 2019.
9. “She’s very deliberative”: Corey Lewandowksi, interview with author, Las Vegas, May 9, 2019.
10. “This has obviously been”: Melania Trump interviewed by Anderson Cooper, Anderson Cooper 360, CNN, October 16–17, 2016.
11. In sworn testimony before Congress: Hearing with Michael Cohen, former attorney to President Donald Trump, before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, February 27, 2019, https://docs.house.gov/meetings/GO/GO00/20190227/108969/HHRG-116-GO00-20190227-SD003.pdf.
12. Melania promised the crowd: Julia Zorthian, “Read Melania Trump’s Campaign Speech Addressing Cyberbullying,” Time, November 3, 2016, https://time.com/4557033/transcript-melania-trump-campaign-speech/.

CHAPTER 1: OLIVE BRANCH?

1. After his 2005 wedding: Donald J. Trump interviewed by Larry King, “Donald and Melania Trump as Newlyweds,” Larry King Live, CNN, May 17, 2005, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4XfyYFa9yo.
2. “feel more at home”: Daphne Barak, To Plea or Not to Plea: The Story of Rick Gates and the Mueller Investigation (New York: Center Street/Hatchette, 2019), 127.
3. “classic and sophisticated”: Robin Givhan, “Melania Trump Picks Patriotism and International Glamour for Her Debut as First Lady,” Washington Post, January 20, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2017/01/20/ralph-lauren-the-most-bipartisan-of-designers-dresses-first-lady-melania-trump-and-hillary-clinton-for-inauguration/.
4. “protect our borders”: “The Inaugural Address,” White House release, January 20, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/the-inaugural-address/.
5. “seemed like a bit of an olive branch”: Givhan, “Melania Trump Picks Patriotism and International Glamour for Her Debut as First Lady.”
6. “People say, ‘Oh, she’s a model’ ”: Roger Stone, interview with author and Tom Hamburger, New York City, May 11, 2016.
7. “my best pollster”: Amy Davidson Sorkin, “Iowa Meets the Trump Family,” New Yorker, February 1, 2016, https://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/iowa-meets-the-trump-family.

CHAPTER 2: CHASING MELANIA

1. “She is like a ghost”: Jarl Alé de Basseville, interviews with author. An interview was conducted in person in Paris, France, in August 2018, and there were several phone interviews over the following year.
2. “If I weren’t beautiful”: Sara James, “Memo Pad: Martha Speaks,” Women’s Wear Daily, May 6, 2005, 11, https://pmcwwd.files.wordpress.com/2005/05/issue-815841.pdf.
3. “I don’t try to change him”: Eric Bradner and Theodore Schleifer, “Melania Trump: I Don’t Always Agree with Donald, and That’s OK,” CNN, Feb. 26, 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/02/29/politics/melania-trump-donald-trumps-language/index.html.
4. “Melania is very smart”: Anthony Scaramucci, interview with author, Washington, D.C., April 29, 2019.
5. “At this moment, she’s really”: Liz Smith, “At Lunch with Liz: Donald Trump,” Good Housekeeping, October 2004, 130–34.
6. “I’ve wanted to be a model”: Marcus Casey, “Daddy’s Girl,” Sunday Telegraph, October 20, 1996.
7. “The best thing you can do”: Donald J. Trump with Tony Schwartz, Trump: The Art of the Deal (New York: Ballantine Books, 1987), 53.
8. “this administration is running”: “Remarks by President Trump in Press Conference,” White House release, February 16, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-press-conference/.
9. the senior adviser helping: Darlene Superville, “Melania Trump says she’ll keep predecessor’s produce garden,” AP, February 14, 2017, https://apnews.com/0dc8ea83de6245e0a554306234a66b55/Melania-Trump-says-she’ll-keep-predecessor’s-produce-garden.
10. “a moderating force in an administration”: Jodi Kantor, Rachel Abrams, and Maggie Haberman, “Ivanka Trump Has the President’s Ear. Here’s Her Agenda,” New York Times, May 2, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/02/us/politics/ivanka-trump.html.
11. “sometimes” he listens: Emily Heil, Sudarsan Raghavan, and Mary Jordan, “Melania Trump Wraps First Solo International Trip in Egypt with Comments on Kavanaugh and Ford,” Washington Post, October 6, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/melania-trump-wraps-first-solo-international-trip-in-egypt-with-comments-on-kavanaugh-and-ford/2018/10/06/f98e5fd8-c8d7-11e8-9b1c-a90f1daae309_story.html.
12. “Melania is very behind-the-scenes”: Sean Spicer, phone interview with author, April 15, 2019.
13. “The idea that she is not”: Chris Christie, interview with author, April 8, 2019.

CHAPTER 3: FACE OF THE YEAR

1. “I grew up in a small town”: Julia Zorthian, “Read Melania’s Campaign Speech Addressing Cyberbullying,” Time, November 3, 2016, https://time.com/4557033/enums/.
2. Viktor was born in a territory: Some details of Melania Trump’s family history are drawn from a book by Bojan Požar and Igor Omerza, Melania Trump—The Inside Story: From a Slovenian Communist Village to the White House (Ljubljana, Slovenia: Založba Ombo d.o.o, 2016).
3. “She had the skill to make”: Estera Savić, interview with author, Sevnica, Slovenia, August 2018.
4. “I think it was opportunism”: Igor Omerza, interviews with author, in person in Slovenia on August 23, 2018, and subsequently on the phone.
5. “Everybody smuggled”: Urska Faller, interview with author, Slovenia, August 2018.
6. Journalist Julia Ioffe found: Julia Ioffe, “Melania Trump on Her Rise, Her Family Secrets, and Her True Political Views: ‘Nobody Will Ever Know,’ ” GQ, April 27, 2016, https://www.gq.com/story/melania-trump-gq-interview.
7. “Melanija has elegance in the blood”: Meri Kelemina, interview with author, Sevnica, Slovenia, August 29, 2018.
8. “The light in Amalija’s window”: Urska Faller interview.
9. Every morning before going: Ines Knauss (@inesknauss), Twitter, March 10, 2020. Ines Knauss has a “protected” Twitter account, which means only followers she approves see her posts, but she has several hundred followers and one of them showed me her tweets. Twitter tells users with these accounts: “Please keep in mind, your followers may still capture images of your Tweets and share them.”
10. “It was just something fun to do”: Nena Bedek, interview with author, Sevnica, Slovenia, August 28, 2018.
11. “For the homeland”: For the text of the pledge and formal greetings of members of the Union of Pioneers of Yugoslavia, see: Štefka Batinić, Igor Radeka, and Snježana Šušnjara, “Today, as I Become a Pioneer: Education in the Spirit of Socialism,” Historia Scholastica 2, no. 1 (2016): 29–41; see p. 32.
12. “It was an honor”: Vladimira Tomšič, interview with author, Sevnica, Slovenia, August 2018.
13. “The match is canceled”: Jože Pirjevec, “Titova Smrt” (“Tito’s Death”), Dnevnik, August 29, 2011, https://www.dnevnik.si/1042468597.
14. “Comrade Tito has died”: Michael Dobbs, “President Tito Dies,” Washington Post, May 5, 1980, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/05/05/president-tito-dies/0df00f64-f525-4783-8a0c-2af1b92b2f9a/.
15. “This is a difficult and dangerous world”: John F. Kennedy, “Remarks of Welcome at the White House to President Tito of Yugoslavia,” October 17, 1963, published in John F. Kennedy: Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1964), 788–89.
16. “President Reagan’s Morning in America”: Julia Zorthian, “Read Melania’s Campaign Speech Addressing Cyberbullying.”
17. “She was a very quiet girl”: Tomi Lombar, phone with author, April 2019.
18. The British rocker, dressed up: David Bodoh, “Elton John 1984 Concerts,” Eltonography.com, http://eltonography.com/tours/1984.html.
19. Melania’s sister said the first time: Ines Knauss (@inesknauss), Twitter, January 22, 2020.
20. “any channel she wants”: Kate Bennett, “Melania Trump Will Watch ‘Any Channel She Wants,’ Spokeswoman Says,” CNN, July 25, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/25/politics/melania-trump-channel/index.html.
21. “They were endless”: Stane Jerko, interview with author, Ljubljana, Slovenia, August 24, 2018.
22. “I think she realized there was another path”: Blaž Matija Vogelnik, interview with author, Ljubljana, Slovenia, August 24, 2018.
23. “Seeing her and falling in love with her”: Riccardo Colao, interview with author, December 14, 2019.
24. “Melania Knaus… has not turned”: “Melania Knaus,” Hollywood, the magazine of Cinecittà, December 1989.
25. “She told the producer”: Riccardo Colao, interview.
26. Mihalek hit the brakes: Nino Mihalek, phone interview with author, February 2020.
27. “We don’t wake up for less”: Arielle Tsoukatos, “Your Definitive Guide To The Most Famous Supermodels Of The ’90s,” InStyle, February 12, 2019.
28. “Some of these girls I stopped”: Marina Masowietsky, interview with author, Los Angeles, February 18, 2019.
29. “Young Beauties Marching on Europe!”: Issues of Jana from 1992 before the June contest, including the March 1992 issue.
30. “Yes, she could be”: Marina Masowietsky interview.
31. “She had the eyes of a tigress”: Bernarda Jeklin, interviews with author, 2016 and 2018, phone and in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
32. “very special face”: Petar Radović, interview and email exchange with author, March–April 2019.
33. “Dejan was key”: Vesna Zarkov, interview with author, Milan, June 2019.
34. “There were issues of that kind”: Dejan Markovic, phone interview with author, February 2020.
35. “Fashion is a business of glamour”: Zorthian, “Read Melania’s Campaign Speech Addressing Cyberbullying.”
36. “The girls have to stand”: Interview with Amalija Knavs, Jana, July 1992.
37. “She was just one of the thousands of models”: Sergio Salerni, interview with author, Milan, Italy, June 2019.
38. “Nobody asked about tax or anything”: Čedo Komljenović, interview with author, Milan, Italy, June 2019.
39. “If you had your wits about you”: Lauren Gott, phone interview with author, July 2019.
40. “It was very decadent”: Anna Momigliano, phone interview with author, December 12, 2019.
41. “Many of these girls destroyed”: PierCarlo Borgogelli, interview with author, Milan, Italy, June 2019.
42. “It’s the most extraordinary”: Jožica Brodarič, interviews with author and email exchange, January 2020.
43. “She was a beautiful, professional lady”: Riccardo Gay, phone interview with author, April 2019.
44. “Melania to me is”: Sergio Salerni interview.
45. “She was not a big model”: PierCarlo Borgogelli interview.
46. “amazing smile”: Wolfgang Schwarz, interview with author, Vienna, Austria, August 31, 2018, and email exchanges 2018–19.
47. “This was the time before cell phones”: Rosemary Feitelberg, “Melania Trump’s Modeling Days in Paris: Lessons in Determination,” Women’s Wear Daily, November 11, 2016, https://wwd.com/eye/people/melania-trumps-mode-paris-donald-trump-10704025/.
48. “I don’t think I could have”: Inside Edition Staff, “Melania Trump’s Ex-Roommate Victoria Silvstedt Reveals First Lady Wanted to Be Like Sophia Loren,” Inside Edition, January 26, 2018, https://www.aol.com/article/lifestyle/2018/01/26/melania-trumps-ex-roommate-victoria-silvstedt-reveals-first-lady-wanted-to-be-like-sophia-loren/23343904/.
49. “Come on, we’ll run down”: Marc Fourny, “Quand Melania Trump Vivait en Colocation à Paris” [“When Melania Trump Lived in a Shared Flat in Paris”], Le Point, June 29, 2018, https://www.lepoint.fr/people/quand-melania-trump-vivait-en-colocation-a-paris-29-06-2018-2231737_2116.php.
50. “never wanted the attention”: Richard Johnson, “Former Roommate: Melania Doesn’t Socialize Enough,” Page Six, December 12, 2017, https://pagesix.com/2017/12/12/former-roommate-melania-doesnt-socialize-enough/.
51. “She was motivated by”: Fourny, “Quand Melania Trump Vivait en Colocation à Paris.”
52. “Obviously, she was her style icon”: Interview with Victoria Silvstedt, “Arriva Victoria Silvstedt,” Domenica Live, September 24, 2017, https://www.mediasetplay.mediaset.it/video/domenicalive/arriva-victoria-silvstedt_F308459101002C05.
53. “When you spend time around Melania”: Eve MacSweeney, “Golden Girl: At Seven Months Pregnant, Melania Trump Can Still Knock ’em Dead in Her Strapless Party Dress—and in a Teeny Bikini, for that Matter,” Vogue, April 2006.
54. claimed the actress bought a place: Sophia Loren was asked whether she owned a place in Trump Tower by an Italian newspaper in 2017. “It is not true!” she said. “Mr. Trump invented it.” Elvira Serra, “Sophia Loren: “Sapevo che ero innocente ma rifarei quei giorni in cella. Io e Mastroianni, che coppia!” [“Sophia Loren: “I knew I was innocent but I would (happily) spend those days in jail. Mastroianni and I, what a pair!”] Corriere Della Sera, September 20, 2017, https://www.corriere.it/cronache/17_settembre_20/sophia-loren-quando-sto-bene-preparo-sugo-il-carcere-lo-rifarei-2d51379c-9e26-11e7-a6ea-abd1a52d72e1.shtml.
55. “Melania Trump is simply the most”: Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich), Twitter, January 1, 2017, 6:11 a.m., https://twitter.com/newtgingrich/status/822763642588372992.
56. “It’s kind of surreal”: Inside Edition Staff, “Melania Trump’s Ex-Roommate Victoria Silvstedt Reveals First Lady Wanted to Be Like Sophia Loren.”
57. “stable and focused”: Paolo Zampolli, interviews with author from 2015 to 2020.

CHAPTER 4: MAKING HER WAY IN MANHATTAN

1. “Hello, my name is Paolo”: Matthew Atanian, interview with author, October 12, 2018.
2. Zampolli told me that he paid for Melania: Paolo Zampolli interview.
3. She initially arrived: Michael J. Wildes, letter on Melania Trump’s immigration history, September 14, 2016; published in tweet by Melania Trump on September 14, 2016, https://twitter.com/MELANIATRUMP/status/776050512772886529.
4. “Mary u know i love my President”: Email exchange with Paolo Zampolli, June 22, 2019.
5. “Now he is a politician”: Matthew Atanian interview.
6. “she looked like she had just walked off a set”: Ibid.
7. “I always loved women together”: Isabel Vincent, “Melania Trump’s Girl-on-Girl Photos from Racy Shoot Revealed,” New York Post, August 1, 2016. The Post originally reported that the shoot had taken place in 1995. A few weeks later, Politico obtained a copy of the magazine that showed it was published in February 1997. Ben Schreckinger, “New York Post Corrects Timeline of Melania Trump Photo Shoot,” Politico, September 16, 2016, https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/melania-trump-photos-visa-immigration-228295.
8. on the day of the shoot: Jarl Alé de Basseville, interviews with author, in person in Paris, France, in August 2018 and subsequently over the phone.
9. Emma Eriksson later described: Linnea Järkstig, “Svenska Emma i Trumps Nakenskandal” [“Swedish Emma in Trump’s Nude Scandal”], Aftonbladet, August 1, 2016, https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/oRez3a/svenska-emma-i-trumps-nakenskandal.
10. “Sitting on the edge of the bed”: Ann Scott, “Emma and Melania Are on the Roof…,” Max, February 1997.
11. “Melania Trump had an impressive body”: “Menage A Trump,” cover page of the New York Post, August 1, 2016.
12. “the very first day she landed”: Federico Pignatelli, interview with Slovenian TV channel RTV 4, aired August 2019.
13. “She was not one of these models”: Federico Pignatelli, interview with author in New York City, February 2019.
14. In a sworn affidavit, one of Zampolli’s: Affidavit of Michele August, Paolo Zampolli v. Metropolitan International Management, LLC, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, Index No. 605599/97, affidavit filed November 13, 1997.
15. Zampolli told me: Paolo Zampolli interview.
16. In 1998, Playboy magazine named Trump: “Playboy Picks Princes of the City,” New York Post, November 26, 1998.
17. “Camel is embracing night life”: William L. Hamilton, “Style Noir,” New York Times, September 14, 1997, https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/14/style/style-noir.html.
18. By law, models had to be at least: “Text of Cigarette Industry’s New Code,” New York Times, April 28, 1964. Dr. Robert Jackler, a Stanford professor who founded and is chief investigator of Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising (SRITA), located an image of the Camel ad that Melania posed in more than twenty years ago and pinpointed the location of the billboard near Times Square where the ad ran. Dr. Jackler and Laurie Jackler, the curator at SRITA, provided analysis of the ad, as well as helpful information about the history of tobacco advertising regulations. SRITA, an interdisciplinary research group, maintains an online collection of tobacco ads for scholars, nonprofits, and the general public: http://tobacco.stanford.edu/tobacco_main/mission.php.
19. In April 2010, Regine Mahaux: Photograph by Regine Mahaux, Getty Images, shot April 10, 2010, https://www.gettyimages.de/detail/nachrichtenfoto/general-view-during-a-portrait-session-with-donald-nachrichtenfoto/103174263.
20. “I didn’t make any changes”: Julia Ioffe, “Melania Trump on Her Rise, Her Family Secrets, and Her True Political Views: ‘Nobody Will Ever Know,’ ” GQ, April 27, 2016, https://www.gq.com/story/melania-trump-gq-interview.

CHAPTER 5: “HE WANTED MY NUMBER, BUT… I DIDN’T GIVE IT TO HIM”

1. “No photography, please”: Sebastian Kopušar, “One Beautiful Day: What Does She Have in Common with Donald Trump?” MAG, 1999, translated from the Slovenian. This account of Melania’s Paris press event is based on multiple contemporaneous reports by the half-dozen Slovenian journalists who attended the press conference, as well as recent interviews with nearly all those who attended, and a video of Melania Trump taken by one reporter that day.
2. “She went from normal”: Sebastian Kopušar, phone interview with author, August 2019.
3. “Since no one in Slovenia”: Dušan Nograšek, “The Slovenian Language Is Like a Song,” Nedeljski Dnevnik (Sunday Daily newspaper), September 20, 1998, translated from the Slovenian.
4. “among the top 50” internationally: Nograšek, “The Slovenian Language Is Like a Song.”
5. “other big agencies”: Boštjan Videmšek, “A Day with Melania Knauss,” Glamur, 1998.
6. “People all over the world”: Hermina Kovačič, “The Model Who Says She Has No Faults—In Paris with Melania Knaus,” Plus, September 11, 1998.
7. A reporter, incredulous: Tape of Slovenian journalists’ interview with Melania Knauss; a short segment of the tape aired on the show Trend, on TV SLO (TV Slovenija) in 1998.
8. “It’s all been agreed to”: Journalists’ interview with Melania Knauss, Trend, TV SLO.
9. “I am really excited”: Videmšek, “A Day with Melania Knauss.”
10. “Slowly, slowly”: Journalists’ interview with Melania Knauss, Trend, TV SLO.
11. “It’s paradise”: Videmšek, “A Day with Melania Knauss.”
12. “Would I be happy to have”: Nograšek, “The Slovenian Language Is Like a Song.”
13. “Were you ever asked to be”: Journalists’ interview with Melania Knauss, Trend, TV SLO.
14. “Yes, I have posed nude”: Nograšek, “The Slovenian Language Is Like a Song.”
15. “finds time for love”: Kovačič, “The Model Who Says She Has No Faults—In Paris with Melania Knaus.”
16. “Who is the most famous person”: Videmšek, “A Day with Melania Knauss.”
17. “I always say what I mean”: Nograšek, “The Slovenian Language Is Like a Song.”
18. “Luck is important”: Journalists’ interview with Melania Knauss, Trend, TV SLO.
19. “must be yawning”: Kopušar, “One Beautiful Day: What Does She Have in Common with Donald Trump?”
20. “In a way it’s like acting”: Journalists’ interview with Melania Knauss, Trend, TV SLO.
21. “but she was not a girl with”: Wolfgang Schwarz, interview with author, August 31, 2018.
22. “stunning”: Craig Singer, interview with author, August 2019.
23. “She stepped through the doorway”: Kopušar, “One Beautiful Day: What Does She Have in Common with Donald Trump?”
24. “She told us something about”: Kovačič, “The Model Who Says She Has No Faults—In Paris with Melania Knaus.”
25. “meant to give the journalists”: Tamara Deu, series of interviews and email exchanges with author, September–December 2019.
26. France had such strict laws: In 1991, France passed strict regulations on alcohol and tobacco advertising, called the Loi Évin, named for Claude Évin, the health minister who proposed the law. Axel Gietz, who was chief spokesman for R. J. Reynolds International in the 1990s, provided valuable information about the trajectory of European tobacco regulations and how they would have shaped the planned Boss advertising campaign. Gietz is now based in Germany and runs his own consulting firm, Headwind Communications, and writes the I’ve Been Thinkin’… blog.
27. “She didn’t want to talk about Trump”: Tamara Deu interview.
28. “the way I promote is bravado”: Donald J. Trump with Tony Schwartz, Trump: The Art of the Deal (New York: Ballantine Books, 1987), 58.
29. “Gossip travels quickly”: Wolfgang Schwarz interview.
30. “I went crazy!”: Donald J. Trump interviewed by Larry King, “Donald and Melania Trump as Newlyweds,” Larry King Live, CNN, May 17, 2005, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4XfyYFa9yo.
31. “He wanted my number, but he was”: Alex Kuczynski, “Melania Trump’s American Dream,” Harper’s Bazaar, January 6, 2016, https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a13529/melania-trump-interview-0216/.
32. “If I give him my number”: Julia Ioffe, “Melania Trump on Her Rise, Her Family Secrets, and Her True Political Views: ‘Nobody Will Ever Know,’ ” GQ, April 27, 2016, https://www.gq.com/story/melania-trump-gq-interview.
33. Zampolli has said: Paolo Zampolli interview.
34. “You don’t fuck around”: Edit Molnar, interview with author, September 2015.
35. With Bax on his arm: “If It’s September, It Must Be Fashion Week. Sort of.: New York Confidential,” Independent (London), September 25, 1998.
36. “I had my life”: Ioffe, “Melania Trump on Her Rise.”
37. “a very rich man”: Federico Pignatelli interview.
38. “some delicious-looking arm candy”: George Rush and Joanna Molloy with Marcus Baram and K.C. Baker, “John-John & Wife Are Train-Spotted Together,” New York Daily News, October 7, 1998. The article spells Melania’s last name “Knaus.”
39. “a slinky brunette”: Jeannie Williams, “Grand Central Gala Remembers Jackie,” USA Today, October 7, 1998.
40. “DONALD Trump just scored big”: No headline, New York Post, October 8, 1998.
41. Melania flew on Trump’s private jet: Jose Lambiet, “So, Where’s Paradise? In the Bahamas, Baby!” Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, December 15, 1998.
42. party said to cost $7 million: Cheryl Blackerby, “The $7 Million Party,” Cox News Service, December 15, 1998.
43. “sort of eligible”: Roxanne Roberts, “His Heart Will Go On; Larry King, Celine Dion Team Up for Benefit Gala,” Washington Post, November 21, 1998.
44. “He’s the greatest man”: Kitty Bean Yancey, “Father-to-Be King Takes a Ribbing at Cardiac Fund-raiser,” USA Today, November 23, 1998. The article called her a “twentysomething Austrian.”
45. Just before he met Melania: John Blosser, “Trump’s New Jackpot,” National Enquirer, September 1998, reprinted by Mother Jones: Natalie Schreyer, “The Trump Files: When Donald Won an Election… of Sexy Billionaires,” Mother Jones, November 2, 2016, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/11/trump-files-donald-election-sexy-billionaires/.
46. “There was a group of us”: Kylie Bax, phone interview and email exchanges with author, July 2019–February 2020.
47. “I love your husband”: Ivana Trump interviewed by Barbara Walters on 20/20, ABC News, May 10, 1991.
48. “I couldn’t turn on the television”: Ivana Trump, Raising Trump: Family Values from America’s First Mother (New York: Gallery Books, 2017), Kindle edition, location 1863 of 3385.
49. “I was standing in the middle of these two”: Donald Trump interviewed on The Howard Stern Show, April 11, 2002, transcript published by Factba.se, https://factba.se/transcript/donald-trump-interview-howard-stern-show-april-11-2002.
50. “Two world-class beauties”: John Blosser, “Trump’s New Jackpot,” reprinted in Schreyer, “The Trump Files: When Donald Won an Election… of Sexy Billionaires.”
51. “He doesn’t check his pulse”: Lloyd Grove, “Best Press He’s Ever Had,” Columbia Journalism Review, Fall 2017, https://www.cjr.org/special_report/trump-tabloids-daily-news-new-york-post-press.php.
52. chatted with Supreme Court Justice: Historical Motorsports Stories, “Memories of Donald Trump and NASCAR,” March 3, 2016, https://www.racing-reference.info/showblog?id=2446.
53. “For Melania Knauss”: “Lady Luxe: The Season’s Haute Couture Is as Stunning as the Worldly Young Women Who Wear It,” photographs by Oberto Gili, styled by Lucy Sykes, Town & Country, May 1999.
54. “Donald Trump didn’t have to look far”: George Rush and Joanna Molloy with Marcus Baram and Marc S. Malkin, “Joe D. Balked at Sitdown with Clinton,” New York Daily News, April 25, 1999.
55. Melania’s modeling day rate doubled: Christopher Byron, “Behind Trump’s Political Fling,” George, February/March 2000.
56. In April 1999, Melania appeared: Sandi Powers, “Beauty and the Buzz: Meet Donald Trump’s New Girlfriend, Melania Knauss,” Ocean Drive, April 1999.
57. Binn described Trump and Melania: Jason Binn, phone interview with author, July 2019.
58. “We were in a casting meeting”: Scott Woodward, interview with author, New York, August 13, 2019, and subsequent phone interviews.
59. The actor joked to a reporter that to keep: George Rush and Joanna Molloy with Marcus Baram and Marc S. Malkin, “Trump on Stump with New Book?” New York Daily News, September 16, 1999.
60. “the really great judgment to cast”: Richard Linnett, “The Gospel of Peter: Arnell on a Mission,” AdAge, November 18, 2002, https://adage.com/article/news/gospel-peter-arnell-a-mission/50827.
61. Manfred Gestrich, a photographer: Manfred Gestrich, phone interview with author, August 29, 2019.
62. Melania’s former roommate, Matthew Atanian: Matthew Atanian interview.
63. the Trump White House financial disclosure form: Donald J. Trump Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report, May 15, 2018, United States Office of Government Ethics, page 33, published by Open Secrets, http://pfds.opensecrets.org/N00023864_2018.pdf.

CHAPTER 6: FIRST WHITE HOUSE RUN

1. “My record of accomplishment in business”: Tom Squitteri and Jessica Lee, “Trump on the Stump for 2000? Reform Party Talk Swirls,” USA Today, July 13, 1999.
2. “Is this a joke?”: “Trump Ready for Call from Reform Party,” Washington Post, July 13, 1999.
3. “I would imagine perhaps”: Donald Trump interviewed by Robert O’Harrow, Shawn Boburg, Drew Harwell, Amy Goldstein, and Jerry Markon, Washington Post Live, May 18, 2016.
4. “You see the reaction”: Jeannie Williams, “Trump’s Girlfriend Strikes a First-Lady-like Pose,” USA Today, October 13, 1990.
5. “I think every woman”: Ibid.
6. attended a Dominick Dunne book party: Jeannie Williams, “ ‘Name Dropper’ Pulls Back the Curtain on Hollywood,” USA Today, October 7, 1999.
7. “She was a different type”: Antoine Verglas, interviews with author, New York City, 2015 and 2018.
8. “Did it go well”: Bill Colson, phone interview with author, December 4, 2019.
9. “I knew what he wanted”: Ibid.
10. “Of course, I could have found”: Antoine Verglas interview.
11. “It was huge because she”: Dylan Jones, phone interview with author, July 17, 2019.
12. “They seemed like they”: Antoine Verglas interview.
13. “But she wasn’t doing it”: Dylan Jones interview.
14. “We wanted to do something”: Antoine Verglas interview.
15. “Naked supermodel special!”: Cover of British GQ, January 2000, republished with photographs and excerpts November 7, 2016, https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/donald-trump-melania-trump-knauss-first-lady-erections.
16. “We were just trying”: Antoine Verglas interview.
17. Donald Trump “was very enthusiastic”: Dylan Jones interview.
18. At the Bay of Pigs Museum: Maureen Dowd, “Liberties; Living la Vida Trumpa,” New York Times, November 17, 1999.
19. “We’re having a good time”: Joel Siegel, “Donald Does Miami as Prez Possibility,” New York Daily News, November 16, 1999.
20. “They were just falling”: Phil Madsen, phone interview with author, July 2019.
21. “To be blunt, people would vote for me”: Maureen Dowd, “Liberties; Trump L’oeil Tease,” New York Times, September 19, 1999, https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/19/opinion/liberties-trump-l-oeil-tease.html.
22. On the same day, Time: Michael Duffy and Matthew Cooper, “Take My Party, Please,” Time, September 19, 1999, http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,31139,00.html.
23. “She was six feet tall”: Donald Trump interviewed on The Howard Stern Show, February 12, 2007, transcript published by the website Factba.se, https://factba.se/transcript/donald-trump-interview-howard-stern-show-february-12-2007.
24. “They were so flawless”: Dave Shiflett, interview with author, July 2019.
25. “Could We Next Have a Supermodel”: K. C. Baker, “A Model First Lady for New Century?,” New York Daily News, October 8, 1999.
26. “I have my career”: Williams, “Trump’s Girlfriend Strikes a First-Lady-like Pose.”
27. “Let me talk to that broad”: Donald Trump and Melania Knauss, interviewed by Howard Stern, Robin Quivers, and Gary Dell’Abate on The Howard Stern Show, November 9, 1999, transcript published by the website Factba.se, https://factba.se/transcript/donald-trump-interview-howard-stern-show-november-9-1999.
28. By early December, the New York Times: Joyce Wadler, “A Model as First Lady? Think Traditional,” New York Times, December 1, 1999.
29. Good Morning America aired: Melania Knauss interviewed by Don Dahler, “Donald Trump’s Girlfriend Melanie [sic] Knauss Talks About Her Relationship with Trump and His Possible Run for the Presidency,” Good Morning America, ABC News, December 7, 1999.
30. “Does being captured”: Donald Trump and Melania Knauss interviewed by Dan Rather, “New York City Developer Donald Trump Wants to Be President of the United States,” 60 Minutes, CBS News, January 11, 2000.
31. “He’s a great leader”: John Santucci, “Melania Trump Stumps for Her Husband in Wisconsin Amid Flagging Support Among Women,” ABC News, April 4, 2016, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/melania-trump-stumps-husband-wisconsin-amid-flagging-support/story?id=38151155.
32. “As a person, as a man”: Donald Trump and Melania Knauss interviewed by Dan Rather.
33. “Donald is intensely loyal”: Nick Gass, “Melania Trump: ‘Donald Is Intensely Loyal,’ ” Politico, July 18, 2016, https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/rnc-2016-melania-trump-225786.
34. “what’s the worst thing”: Donald Trump and Melania Knauss interviewed by Dan Rather.
35. “Trump’s Bare Force One”: George Rush and Joanna Molloy with Marcus Baram and Marc S. Malkin, “Flying Trump’s Bare Force One,” New York Daily News, December 22, 1999.
36. “I think America needs”: Robin Givhan, “On a Different Plane; Money Bought Donald Trump an Unreal Life. Is His Presidential Bid Another Fantasy?,” Washington Post, December 23, 1999.

CHAPTER 7: MELANIA OR KARA?

1. “Trump Knixes Knauss”: Richard Johnson and Bill Hoffmann, “Trump Knixes Knauss: Donald-Dumped Supermodel Is ‘Heartbroken,’ ” New York Post, January 11, 2001.
2. A different Post writer filed a story: Jared Paul Stern, New York Post, January 13, 2001; the article is described in a book by Allen Salkin and Aaron Short, The Method to the Madness: Donald Trump’s Ascent as Told by Those Who Were Hired, Fired, Inspired—and Inaugurated (New York: All Points Books, 2019).
3. “Melania is an amazing woman”: James Barron, “Public Lives: Ladies and Germs? The Germs Win,” New York Times, January 13, 2000, https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/13/nyregion/public-lives.html.
4. “Most of the construction workers”: Simon Houpt, “He’s Baaack! TRUMPED UP Conspicuous Consumption Is Here Again, and Real-Estate Magnus Donald J. Trump Is in the Thick of It, with New Deals, New Dalliances, Even Rumours of a Presidential Bid. It’s the Return of Eighties Excess, but Is Anybody Really Buying It?,” Globe and Mail, February 5, 2000.
5. “This vision, emerging from nowhere”: Christopher Byron, “The Secret Behind Trump’s Political Fling,” George, February/March 2000, 115.
6. “Even the beautiful”: Byron, “The Secret Behind Trump’s Political Fling,” 60.
7. “Meet the First Babe”: Sean Neary, “Meet the First Babe,” George magazine draft layout for February/March 2000, unpublished. A former George employee shared the draft with the author.
8. “Meet the First Babes”: Sean Neary, “Meet the First Babes,” George, February/March 2000, 62.
9. “possible wife number three”: Neary, “Meet the First Babe,” George draft layout.
10. “Just two weeks later”: Neary, “Meet the First Babes,” George, February/March 2000, 62.
11. referred to her boyfriend as “Mr. Trump”: Sean Neary, interview with author, August 8, 2019.
12. “You play a role”: Amy Brill, “A Model First Lady: Melania Knauss Gets Ready for the White House,” Talk, February 2000, 76–77.
13. “smart, polite, and savvy”: Amy Brill, phone interview with author, July 18, 2019.
14. “Melania… the curvaceous Slovenian model”: Toby Young, “Lithe Damn Lithe,” Tatler, April 2000, 198–205.
15. Even the New York Times wondered: Barron, “Public Lives: Ladies and Germs? The Germs Win.”
16. In January, Marla announced: Mitchell Fink with Lauren Rubin, “Marla’s Cooking Up Some Donald Dish,” New York Daily News, January 14, 2000.
17. “by mutual consent”: Joseph P. Fried, “Following Up,” New York Times, February 24, 2002, https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/24/nyregion/following-up.html.
18. “I noticed in the relationship”: Jay Goldberg, interview with author, New York City, December 2018.
19. “With Kara dating him”: Jason Binn, interview with author, July 2019.
20. “There is high maintenance”: Donald J. Trump with Kate Bohner, Trump: The Art of the Comeback (New York: Times Books, 1997), 141.
21. “The same assets”: Donald J. Trump with Charles Leerhsen, Trump: Surviving at the Top (New York: Random House, 1990), 6.
22. “Knauss’ past is as mysterious”: Verena Dobnik, “Trump’s Presidential Ammunition Includes—a Model First Lady?,” Associated Press, November 19, 1999.
23. “How’s it going with Trump?”: Matthew Atanian interview.
24. “She’s glamorous and presents”: Philip Bloch, interview with author, Los Angeles, February 2019.
25. “I had been very successful with your girlfriend”: A. J. Benza and Donald Trump interviewed by Howard Stern on The Howard Stern Show, May 10, 2001, transcript published by the website Factba.se, https://factba.se/transcript/donald-trump-interview-howard-stern-show-may-10-2001.

CHAPTER 8: “AREN’T I LUCKY?”

1. “extra beautiful”: Jure Zorcic, interview with author, Slovenia, August 2018.
2. “I left 15 years ago”: Camilla Long, “Melania Is the Unofficial Queen of New York,” Tatler, May 2005.
3. “devastating”: Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, interviews with author, 2019 and 2020.
4. “Matthew, this is Donald Trump”: Matthew Atanian, interview with author, October 2019.
5. “Melania was the only one”: Chris Christie, interview with author, April 8, 2019.
6. a lot of media celebrities: Michael Callahan, “Flashback: When Hillary and Bill Hit the Wedding of Donald and Melania,” Hollywood Reporter, April 7, 2016.
7. Marco Glaviano and Patrick Demarchelier: “Fashion Behind the Scenes,” MF Fashion, December 9, 2004. Other information drawn from interviews.
8. Trump told people the wedding: Karen S. Schneider, “A Magical Merger,” People, February 7, 2005, https://people.com/archive/a-magical-merger-vol-63-no-5/.
9. “I arranged everything”: Schneider, “A Magical Merger.”
10. She says with a laugh: Sally Singer, “How to Marry a Billionaire,” Vogue, February 2005, 166–79.
11. “7 most spectacular”: Jessica Siegel, “The 7 Most Spectacular Weddings of All Time,” Glamour, March 2009, 172.
12. “Donald Trump’s name”: Don Dahler, interview with Melania Knauss, “Donald Trump’s Girlfriend Melanie [sic] Knauss Talks About Her Relationship with Trump and His Possible Run for Presidency,” Good Morning America, ABC News, December 7, 1999.
13. “too weird to go there”: Ivana Trump, Raising Trump: Family Values from America’s First Mother (New York: Gallery Books, 2017), Kindle edition, location 2188 of 3385.
14. In a June 2019 Vanity Fair: Gabriel Sherman, “ ‘Marla Was Under Duress’: Revealed in His Marla Maples Prenup, Donald Trump’s Draconian Art of the Marriage Deal,” Vanity Fair, June 4, 2019, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/06/marla-maple-prenup-donald-trump-marriage.
15. “He kept questioning me”: Jay Goldberg, interview with author, 2018.
16. “After giving Donald two years”: Salvatore Arena and K. C. Baker, “Marla Caves on Prenup: Gives up Battle over Pact and Takes $2M in Divorce,” New York Daily News, June 9, 1999.
17. “And had I not had”: Liz Smith, “At Lunch with Liz: Donald Trump,” Good Housekeeping, October 2004, 130–43.
18. Redbook quoted her as saying: Kaitlin Menza and Adam Schubak, “24 Things You Didn’t Know About Melania Trump as a Mom,” Redbook, May 8, 2018, https://www.redbookmag.com/life/news/g4270/melania-trump-parenting-style/?slide=6.
19. “I create stars”: Nancy Collins interview with Donald J. Trump on “ ‘Baby Anna’—An Update on Baby Jessica,” Primetime Live, ABC News, March 10, 1994.
20. Two women have very publicly stated: Karen McDougal and Stephanie Clifford have said they had affairs with Trump, beginning in the summer of 2006. McDougal says her affair with Trump lasted nine months, while Clifford met Trump just twice, in July 2006 and again in July 2007. For details of McDougal’s account: Ronan Farrow, “Donald Trump, A Playboy Model, and a System for Concealing Infidelity,” New Yorker, February 16, 2018. For details of Clifford’s account: Anderson Cooper, “Stormy Daniels Describes Her Alleged Affair with Donald Trump,” 60 Minutes, August 22, 2018.
21. “I wanted some privacy”: Elizabeth Einstein, “Trump That,” Allure spa issue, 2008, 27.
22. “She was always taking care”: Kate Sullivan, “Melania Trump Will Never Get Botox, Has a Spa in Her Apartment,” Allure, July 27, 2011, https://www.allure.com/story/melania-trump-will-never-get-b.
23. “They said my wife”: Jeremy Diamond, “Melania Trump Will Address Immigration Controversy, Donald Trump Says,” CNN, August 9, 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/08/09/politics/donald-trump-melania-immigration-controversy/index.html.
24. “I am pleased to enclose”: Melania Trump (@FLOTUS), Twitter, September 14, 2016, 9:30 a.m., https://twitter.com/MELANIATRUMP/status/776050512772886529.
25. “I thank Michael Wildes”: “In The News,” Wildes & Weinberg P.C. Law Offices, https://www.wildeslaw.com/news-events/in-the-news/melania-trump-on-safe-haven-in-america.
26. “Following a review”: Michael J. Wildes, public letter, September 14, 2016, embedded in tweet by Melania Trump, https://twitter.com/MELANIATRUMP/status/776050512772886529.
27. “We called it the Einstein visa”: Mary Jordan, “Questions Linger About How Melania Trump, a Slovenian Model, Scored ‘the Einstein Visa,’ ” Washington Post, March 1, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/questions-linger-about-how-melania-trump-a-slovenian-model-scored-the-einstein-visa/2018/02/28/d307ddb2-1b35-11e8-ae5a-16e60e4605f3_story.html.
28. “There is no reason to adjudicate”: Ibid.
29. “What did she submit?”: Ibid.
30. Melania was paid more than $20,000: Alicia A. Caldwell, “Melania Trump Modeled in US Prior to Getting Work Visa,” Associated Press, November 4, 2016, https://apnews.com/37dc7aef0ce44077930b7436be7bfd0d/Melania-Trump-modeled-in-US-prior-to-getting-work-visa.
31. “He has a double standard”: Bruce Morrison, phone interview with author, April 2020.
32. “I came here for my career”: Alex Kuczynski, “Melania Trump’s American Dream,” Harper’s Bazaar, January 6, 2016, https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a13529/melania-trump-interview-0216/.
33. “the greatest privilege in the world”: Julia Zorthian, “Read Melania Trump’s Campaign Speech Addressing Cyberbullying,” Time, November 3, 2016, https://time.com/4557033/transcript-melania-trump-campaign-speech/.
34. “more doors in the world”: Dušan Nograšek, “The Slovenian Language Is Like a Song,” Nedeljski Dnevnik (Sunday Daily newspaper), September 20, 1998.
35. “It is important to note”: “Dual Nationality,” United States Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs.
36. her sister, who is Barron’s godmother: Ines Knauss (@inesknauss), Twitter, March 20, 2020. On Barron’s birthday, Knauss tweeted, “my godson is 14 today.”
37. “What are the options”: Eric Bland, interview with author, New York City, April 2019.
38. “Your parents will be”: Eric Bland interview.
39. “And how about chain migration”: Donald J. Trump, remarks at rally in Lewis Center, Ohio, August 4, 2018, transcript published by the website Factba.se, https://factba.se/transcript/donald-trump-speech-maga-lewis-center-oh-august-4-2018.
40. “Thank you”: Michael R. Sisak, “Meet the Newest US Citizens: Melania Trump’s Parents,” Associated Press, August 9, 2018, https://apnews.com/e9ef38a1031744ae9e3a098c96f6a706/Melania-Trump’s-parents-are-sworn-in-as-US-citizens.
41. “This is an example of it going right”: Julia Reinstein, “Melania Trump’s Parents Became US Citizens Using the ‘Chain Migration’ Program That Trump Has Repeatedly Attacked,” Buzzfeed News, August 9, 2018, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/juliareinstein/melania-trumps-parents-have-been-sworn-in-as-us-citizens.
42. “are not part of the administration”: Sisak, “Meet the Newest US Citizens: Melania Trump’s Parents.”
43. He called Trump’s opposition: Kristine Phillips, “Melania Trump’s Immigration Lawyer Calls President’s Attacks on ‘Chain Migration’ ‘Unconscionable,’ ” Washington Post, August 11, 2018.
44. “She said, ‘Make it clear’ ”: Michael Wildes interview.
45. Denials of new applications for H1-B visas: National Foundation for American Policy, “H-1B Denial Rates: Analysis of H1-B Data for First Three Quarters of FY 2019,” October 2019, https://nfap.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/H-1B-Denial-Rates-Analysis-of-FY-2019-Numbers.NFAP-Policy-Brief.October-2019.pdf.
46. average processing time: “AILA Policy Brief: USCIS Processing Delays Have Reached Crisis Levels Under the Trump Administration,” American Immigration Lawyers Association, January 30, 2019.
47. just 200,000 immigrants: William H. Frey, “US Foreign-Born Gains Are Smallest in a Decade, Except in Trump States,” Brookings Institution, October 2, 2019, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2019/10/01/us-foreign-born-gains-are-smallest-in-a-decade-except-in-trump-states/.
48. “reminds us of our past mistakes”: Michael Wildes, interviews with author between 2016 and 2020.

CHAPTER 9: JEWELRY AND CAVIAR

1. “He called Melania”: Michael Streck, phone interview with author, December 23, 2019.
2. “I will never again”: Nancy Collins interview with Donald J. Trump on “ ‘Baby Anna’—An Update on Baby Jessica,” Primetime Live, ABC News, March 10, 1994.
3. “Is he really running”: Joy Behar, interview with Melania Trump, The Joy Behar Show, CNN, April 20, 2011.
4. “The whole thing was crazy”: Michelle Obama, Becoming (New York: Crown, 2018), 352–53.
5. “Bill and Hillary Clinton”: Melania Trump, “5 things you don’t know about me,” Glamour, January 2006, 79.
6. “After ten years of researching”: The Apprentice, Season 13, Episode 6, “How Do You Spell Melania?,” NBC, aired April 7, 2013, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2811688/.
7. “intense collaboration with Melania’s”: “Melania Beauty Caviar Complexe C6 Collection,” MelaniaTrump.com, archived by the WayBack Machine, https://web.archive.org/web/20160102181847/http://www.melaniatrump.com/melania-beauty/.
8. “from head to toe”: Lesley Messer, “Melania Trump: My Son, 7, Is ‘Not a Sweatpants Child’,” ABC News, April 11, 2013, https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2013/04/melania-trump-my-son-7-is-not-a-sweatpants-child/.
9. In March 2013, Melania received notice: Merchant Capital, LLC and New Sunshine, LLC vs. Melania Marks Skincare, LLC, No. 1:13-cv-00873-JMS-DML, United States District Court in the Southern District of Indiana, Document 105, Order, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-insd-1_13-cv-00873/pdf/USCOURTS-insd-1_13-cv-00873-2.pdf.
10. “grossly favorable”: Jeff Swiatek, “Melania Trump’s company caught in Ind. contract dispute,” USA Today, November 11, 2013, https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/11/11/melania-trump-john-menard-contract-dispute/3502669/.
11. “pretty much nothing other than Mrs. Donald Trump”: Merchant Capital, LLC and New Sunshine, LLC vs. Melania Marks Skincare, LLC, No. 1:13-cv-00873-JMS-DML, United States District Court in the Southern District of Indiana, transcript of bench trial, day 3, closing statement by plaintiff attorney Kevin C. Tyra, 91.
12. “It’s hard to find emotion”: Peter Moskowitz, “What Happened to Melania Trump’s Caviar Skincare Line?,” Racked, August 22, 2016, https://www.racked.com/2016/8/22/12556786/melania-trump-caviar-skincare-lawsuit.
13. “This is not how the business”: Merchant Capital, LLC and New Sunshine, LLC vs. Melania Marks Skincare, LLC, transcript of bench trial, day 3, direct examination of Melania Trump by her attorney Norman T. Funk, 73.
14. Tomisue Hilbert is listed: Report of Donations Accepted for Inaugural Committee by the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee, April 18, 2017, Federal Election Commission, 385, https://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/286/201704180300150286/201704180300150286.pdf.
15. “This was a passion of Melania’s”: Stephen Hilbert, interview with author, 2016.
16. “If the media reports”: Moskowitz, “What Happened to Melania Trump’s Caviar Skincare Line?”
17. “Would you please explain to the judge”: Merchant Capital, LLC and New Sunshine, LLC vs. Melania Marks Skincare, LLC, transcript of bench trial, day 3, direct examination of Melania Trump by Norman T. Funk, 50; quoted by Moskowitz.
18. “He was sweet with her”: Jose Gabriel Juarez, phone interview with author, November 2019.
19. “I got it all ready”: Victorina Morales, phone interview with author, November 2019.
20. a site called Trump Golf Count: Trump Golf Count, last updated March 8, 2020, page created and maintained by Sophie German, https://trumpgolfcount.com/.
21. “Melania is always very apart”: Sandra Diaz, interview with author, New York City, September 10, 2019.
22. “They’re the same size”: Joshua Partlow and David A. Fahrenthold, “How two housekeepers took on the president—and revealed that his company employed undocumented immigrants,” Washington Post, December 4, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-two-undocumented-housekeepers-took-on-the-president-and-revealed-trumps-long-term-reliance-on-illegal-immigrants/2019/12/04/3dff5b5c-0a15-11ea-bd9d-c628fd48b3a0_story.html.
23. “Nobody could wear the red hat”: Partlow and Fahrenthold, “How two housekeepers took on the president.”
24. “that fucking guy”: Sandra Diaz interview.
25. “I never saw them together”: Jose Gabriel Juarez interview.
26. “You’re still here?”: Partlow and Fahrenthold, “How two housekeepers took on the president.”
27. “I don’t understand”: Sandra Diaz interview.

CHAPTER 10: “WE GIVE A SPACE TO EACH OTHER”

1. “Melania was a very, very successful person”: Donald J. Trump, interview with author at Trump Tower, April 2016.
2. “Not a lot of people know me”: Melania Trump, phone interview with author, April 2016.
3. “She knew Bannon was no good”: Chris Christie, interview with author, April 8, 2019.
4. “people misread her because she is quiet”: Corey Lewandowski, interview with author, May 9, 2019.
5. “many things—some language”: Eric Bradner and Theodore Schleifer, “Melania Trump: I Don’t Always Agree with Donald, and That’s OK,” CNN, February 29, 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/02/29/politics/melania-trump-donald-trumps-language/index.html.

CHAPTER 11: BE BEST

1. “will never show you her emotion”: Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, interviews with author, 2019 and 2020.
2. In January 2018: Michael Rothfeld and Joe Palazzolo, “Trump Lawyer Arranged $130,000 Payment for Adult-Film Star’s Silence,” Wall Street Journal, January 12, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-lawyer-arranged-130-000-payment-for-adult-film-stars-silence-1515787678.
3. In Touch magazine published: In Touch Magazine Staff, interview conducted by Jordi Lippe-McGraw, “ ‘In Touch’ Explosive Interview with Stormy Daniels: Donald Trump Cheated on Melania with Me,” In Touch, January 19, 2018, https://www.intouchweekly.com/posts/stormy-daniels-affair-donald-trump-151571/.
4. “We got naked”: Ronan Farrow, “Donald Trump, a Playboy Model, and a System for Concealing Infidelity,” New Yorker, February 16, 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/donald-trump-a-playboy-model-and-a-system-for-concealing-infidelity-national-enquirer-karen-mcdougal.
5. “It is not a concern and focus”: Tom Llamas interview with Melania Trump, “Being Melania,” ABC News, October 13, 2018, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/show-care-melania-trump-reveals-details-life-white/story?id=58393164.
6. “going straight to hell”: Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel), Twitter, September 30, 2017, 8:21 a.m., https://twitter.com/Lin_Manuel/status/914102927744217088.
7. “Honored to join”: Melania Trump (@FLOTUS), Twitter, September 6, 2019, 7:47 a.m., https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1169940208357392384.
8. “Knauss would have little trouble”: K. C. Baker, “A Model First Lady for New Century?,” New York Daily News, October 8, 1999.
9. “How many languages”: Mika Brzezinski, “Melania Trump on Her Life, Marriage and 2016,” Morning Joe, MSNBC, February 24, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbvGxDmD3dY.
10. “Thank you. Nice to meet you”: AP Video, “Pope to First Lady: What Do You Feed Trump?,” Associated Press, May 24, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40NB3WtMoTw.
11. “I’m going to visit a hospital, for bambinos”: Ruptly, “Holy See: Melania and Ivanka Trump Wear Black Veils to Meet Pope Francis,” May 24, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCCEpZ1JzjU&t=33s.
12. “We have our own Jackie O”: Steve Doocy, Jillian Mele, and Brian Kilmeade, interview with Donald J. Trump, Fox & Friends, June 14, 2019.
13. modeling agent Wolfgang Schwarz: Wolfgang Schwarz interview.
14. “Bonjour! Bonjour!”: AP video, “Melania Trump Visits Children’s Hospital in Paris,” Associated Press, July 13, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trR3GtAWe0M.
15. “Wait. I thought Melania”: Keith Boykin (@keithboykin), Twitter, August 26, 2019, 10:43 a.m., https://twitter.com/keithboykin/status/1165998296508358661.
16. “There are no leaks”: Corey Lewandowski, interview with author, May 9, 2019.
17. “She really relieved”: Anita McBride, phone interview with author, February 12, 2020.
18. Melania Trump made eight speeches: Lauren Wright, “Melania Trump ‘Be Best’ Platform Is a Lost Opportunity for White House,” The Hill, May 15, 2018, https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/387738-melania-trump-be-best-platform-is-a-lost-opportunity-for-white-house.
19. “stay in her lane”: Philip Bloch, interviews with author, January–February 2019.
20. “The most important and joyous”: Abby Hamblin, “Read Melania Trump’s U.N. Speech on Bullying, the Golden Rule,” Daily Press, September 20, 2017, https://www.dailypress.com/sd-melania-trump-un-speech-20170920-htmlstory.html.
21. “She’s electric!”: Geoff Earle, Carly Stern, and Erica Tempesta, “She’s Electric! Melania Trump Dons an Eye-Catching $3,000 Neon Pink Coat to Speak About Anti-Bullying at United Nations Luncheon in New York,” Daily Mail, September 20, 2017, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4903776/Melania-Trump-wears-3000-neon-pink-dress-UN.html.
22. “As a mother and as First Lady”: “Remarks by the First Lady at the Launch of the ‘Be Best’ Initiative,” White House release, May 7, 2018, whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-first-lady-launch-best-initiative/.
23. they had considered other names: Stephanie Winston Wolkoff interview.
24. “I am well aware”: Mary Jordan, Emily Heil, and Josh Dawsey, “Inside Melania Trump’s Complicated White House Life: Separate Schedule, Different Priorities,” Washington Post, May 6, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/inside-melania-trumps-complicated-white-house-life-separate-schedules-different-priorities/2018/05/06/60f6f07e-4703-11e8-9072-f6d4bc32f223_story.html.
25. “It is my pleasure”: “First Lady Melania Trump Remarks on Opioids,” C-SPAN, November 26, 2019, https://www.c-span.org/video/?466768-1/lady-melania-trump-delivers-remarks-opioid-awareness.
26. “We live in a democracy”: Eugene Scott, “Boos Aimed at Melania Trump Show There’s No Transcending Politics for This First Family,” Washington Post, November 27, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/11/27/boos-aimed-melania-trump-show-theres-no-transcending-politics-this-first-family/.
27. “We profile women in the magazine”: Interview of Anna Wintour by Christiane Amanpour, CNN, April 8, 2019, http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1904/08/ampr.01.html.
28. “To be on the cover of Vogue”: Sasha Savitsky, “Melania Trump’s Rep Dismisses Anna Wintour Vogue Diss: ‘She’s Been There, Done That,’ ” Fox News, April 12, 2019, https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/melania-trump-anna-wintour-vogue-cnn-first-lady.
29. “It’s 1,000 percent false”: Jordan, Heil, and Dawsey, “Inside Melania Trump’s Complicated White House Life: Separate Schedule, Different Priorities.”
30. “an urban legend”: Ibid.
31. “Trump loves her cool”: Stephanie Winston Wolkoff interview.

CHAPTER 12: “THE PROTECTOR”

1. “He was very knowledgeable”: Steven Goff, “Barron Trump Likes Soccer. And Arsenal. And D.C. United?,” Washington Post, April 18, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/soccer-insider/wp/2017/04/18/barron-trump-likes-soccer-and-arsenal-and-d-c-united/.
2. “If it were me”: Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC), Twitter, July 16, 2018, 12:13 p.m., https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1018891400245600257.
3. “She is her left hand”: Stephanie Winston Wolkoff interview.
4. a childhood friend of Melania’s was quoted: Matej Klaric, “Melania Trump: From a Small White House in Slovenia to the Big One in DC,” Australian Broadcasting Corporation News, November 16, 2016, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-17/melania-trumps-journey-from-slovenia-to-the-white-house/8028340.
5. “What kind of nonsense”: Ines Knauss (@inesknauss), Twitter, June 16, 2019.
6. “once or twice a month”: Richard Johnson, “Whom Melania Trump Turns to for Fashion Advice,” Page Six, December 4, 2018, https://pagesix.com/2018/12/04/who-melania-trump-turns-to-for-fashion-advice/.
7. “this zero-tolerance policy”: Laura Bush, “Separating Children from Their Parents at the Border ‘Breaks My Heart,’ ” Washington Post, June 17, 2018.
8. “Mrs. Trump hates to see children”: Kate Bennett, “Melania Trump ‘Hates to See’ Children Separated from Their Families at Borders,” CNN, June 18, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/17/politics/melania-trump-children-separated-immigration/index.html.
9. “It was unacceptable for me”: Tom Llamas interview with Melania Trump, “Being Melania Trump—The First Lady,” ABC News, October 13, 2018, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/transcript-abc-news-chief-national-affairs-correspondent-tom/story?id=58469532.
10. “Ivanka feels very strongly”: Jessica Taylor, “Melania Trump Pressured President Trump to Change Family Separation Policy,” NPR, June 20, 2018, https://www.npr.org/2018/06/20/621930721/melania-trump-pressured-president-trump-to-change-family-separation-policy.
11. “I REALLY DON’T CARE”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, June 21, 2018, https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1009916650622251009.
12. “It’s obvious I didn’t wear”: Tom Llamas interview with Melania Trump, “Being Melania Trump—The First Lady.”
13. “I wish people would focus on what I do”: Drew Cornejo, “Melania Trump: ‘I Wish People Would Focus on What I Do, Not What I Wear,’ ” Washington Post, October 8, 2018.
14. “Thank you for educating them”: Emily Heil, Sudarsan Raghavan, and Mary Jordan, “Melania Trump Wraps First Solo International Trip in Egypt with Comments on Kavanaugh and Ford,” Washington Post, October 6, 2018.
15. “Many Ghanaians are saying”: Max Bearak, “ ‘The Nicer of the Trumps’: Melania’s Africa Trip Scripted to Avoid Major Stumbles,” Washington Post, October 5, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the-nicer-of-the-two-trumps-melanias-africa-trip-scripted-to-avoid-major-stumbles/2018/10/05/9a4a4c3c-c501-11e8-9c0f-2ffaf6d422aa_story.html.
16. “I wanted to be here to see the successful programs”: Lauren Monsen, “Melania Trump Delivers Books, Balls and Hope in Malawi,” Share America release, October 5, 2018, https://share.america.gov/melania-trump-delivers-books-balls-hope-malawi/.
17. “I am so proud of the work”: “First Lady Melania Trump Announces Planned Stops During Visit to Africa,” White House release, September 26, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/first-lady-melania-trump-announces-planned-stops-visit-africa/.
18. “It is the position of the Office”: Felicia Sonmez and Josh Dawsey, “First Lady Melania Trump’s Office Calls for Firing of White House National Security Official,” Washington Post, November 13, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/first-lady-melania-trumps-office-calls-for-firing-of-white-house-national-security-official/2018/11/13/1b4c3f28-e77d-11e8-bbdb-72fdbf9d4fed_story.html.
19. not “just the striking-looking”: Katherine Jellison, interview with author, November 26, 2019.
20. The conflict between Ricardel and Melania’s staff: This account of the dismissal of Mira Ricardel is based on interviews with several former White House officials.
21. “I thought it was outrageous”: John Bolton, email to author, February 28, 2020.
22. “I am deeply concerned”: Melania Trump (@FLOTUS), Twitter, September 9, 2019, 12:19 p.m., https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1171095740510277632.
23. “He didn’t know much about the issue”: Josh Dawsey and Laurie McGinley, “Trump Backs Off Flavored Vape Ban He Once Touted,” Washington Post, November 17, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-pulls-back-from-flavored-vaping-ban/2019/11/17/30853ece-07ae-11ea-924a-28d87132c7ec_story.html.
24. “The Constitution says”: Pamela Karlan testifying at the House Judiciary Committee Hearing on Constitutional Grounds for Impeachment, December 4, 2019.
25. “A minor child”: Melania Trump (@FLOTUS), Twitter, December 4, 2019, 4:50 p.m., https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1202344441924571136.
26. “So ridiculous”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, December 12, 2019, 7:22 a.m., https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1205100602025545730.
27. “Be Best is the First Lady’s”: Stephanie Grisham statement, first tweeted by CNN reporter Kate Bennett, December 13, 2019, https://twitter.com/KateBennett_DC/status/1205564997012770817.
28. Trump personally leaked: Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig, A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America (New York: Penguin Random House, 2020), 337–38.
29. “Democrats and the opposition media”: Dartunorro Clark, “Melania Trump Joins Husband’s Attacks on Democrats, ‘Fake News’ in Fundraising Appeal,” NBC News, November 3, 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/melania-trump-joins-husband-s-attacks-democrats-fake-news-fundraising-n930821.
30. “She is very happy”: Paolo Zampolli interview.
31. “Feminism was established”: Oliver Willis, “Rush on Tour: AIDS, Misogyny and Suicide Used as Punch Lines,” Media Matters, March 15, 2012, https://www.mediamatters.org/rush-limbaugh/rush-tour-aids-misogyny-and-suicide-used-punchlines.
32. “decades of tireless devotion”: Josh Dawsey and Philip Rucker, “Rush Limbaugh Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom at State of the Union,” Washington Post, February 4, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-says-he-plans-to-award-presidential-medal-of-freedom-to-rush-limbaugh/2020/02/04/2d8f6a76-47a7-11ea-ab15-b5df3261b710_story.html.
33. “top scum”: “Remarks by President Trump to the Nation,” White House release, February 6, 2020, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-nation/.
34. But for weeks U.S. intelligence officials had warned: Shane Harris, Greg Miller, Josh Dawsey, and Ellen Nakashima, “U.S. intelligence reports from January and February warned about a likely pandemic,” Washington Post, March 20, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/us-intelligence-reports-from-january-and-february-warned-about-a-likely-pandemic/2020/03/20/299d8cda-6ad5-11ea-b5f1-a5a804158597_story.html.
35. “I am excited to share”: Melania Trump (@FLOTUS), Twitter, March 5, 2020, 12:20 p.m., https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1235616174899171328.
36. “I encourage everyone who chooses to be negative”: Melania Trump (@FLOTUS), Twitter, March 7, 2020, 9:40 a.m., https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1236300725036158976.
37. “Opened up and just raring to”: Andrew O’Reilly, “Trump calls for restarting economy by Easter: ‘We have to get back to work’,” Fox News, March 24, 2020, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-during-fox-news-coronavirus-townhall-signals-desire-to-ease-guidelines-we-have-to-get-back-to-work.
38. “Stay safe and remember”: Melania Trump (@FLOTUS), Twitter, March 20, 2020, 9:00 a.m., “A Message for Parents from First Lady Melania Trump,” https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1240986449874309120.
39. She thanked “doctors, nurses”: Melania Trump (@FLOTUS), Twitter, March 16, 2020, 12:13 p.m., https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1239585567509184518.
40. “Our great country is fighting hard”: Melania Trump (@FLOTUS), Twitter, March 11, 2010, 10:10 p.m., https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1237923775619923970.
41. “If we support one another”: Melania Trump (@FLOTUS), Twitter, March 18, 2020, 9:48 a.m., https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1240273768393703426.
42. “I just don’t want to be doing”: “Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing,” White House release, April 3, 2020, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing-18/.
43. “Remember, this does NOT replace”: Melania Trump (@FLOTUS), Twitter, April 9, 2020, 11:50 a.m., https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1248277174072860672.
44. “noted shared concern over”: “Readout of First Lady Melania Trump’s Call with Mrs. Elke Büdenbender of Germany,” White House release, April 14, 2020, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/readout-first-lady-melania-trumps-call-mrs-elke-budenbender-germany/.