Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump/GettyImages
Former first lady Melania Trump spent her four years in the White House waging war against Ivanka Trump, when between one battle and another she renegotiated her financial agreements before and after marriage with her husband the president - according to a new number.
According to journalist Katie Rogers' book, "American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden" - the two had a four-year "internal power struggle" over the role of first lady, which Ivanka tried to assume as Melania She did not move to the presidential residence at the beginning of Donald Trump's term.
Ivanka, according to Rogers, the White House correspondent for the New York Times, planned to renovate the East Wing of the presidential residence while Melania stayed behind in New York to ensure that her son Barron, who was ten years old at the time, could finish the school year.
The eldest daughter had plans to more or less eliminate the position of First Lady with the conversion of the residence so that it could "serve the entire First Family, not just the First Lady."
United States President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump leave the White House for a vacation in Florida, December 23, 2020/Reuters
President Trump pushed for Ivanka to take on the role alongside Melania, telling reporters early in his term that his daughter would "help her and work with her" as she carried out her role as first lady.
"She was aware that her husband had suggested that his eldest daughter help share the responsibilities of being first lady, and this was not a development that pleased her," Rogers wrote.
Melania thwarted the efforts, and started a fight with her stepdaughter, whom she called "the princess".
They were largely estranged, although they worked closely with President Trump, with Ivanka working as an unpaid consultant in the West Wing of the White House.
According to former senior administration officials, Melania sent a message to her stepdaughter when she wore the jacket with the inscription "I really don't care, do you want me?"
In preparation for her visit in June 2018 to the center for immigrant children detained at the southern border.
The book states that the two were then in silent competition for press coverage at the time.
Sources told Rogers that Melania was completely obsessed with monitoring the public's attitude toward her, scanning every "mention of her name in the press as she often wandered on Twitter to see what the press, her critics and supporters were saying about her."
The first lady also thought it was inappropriate for Ivanka and her siblings, and their spouses, to be so involved in the White House.
"If she ever fought a battle on the issue, she clearly lost it: For four years it was hard to see where the family business stopped and the Trump administration began," Rogers wrote.
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Exchange of greetings with Jill Biden
Stephanie Grisham, a senior aide to the former first lady, told Rogers that Melania had "meetings with teams of lawyers to review her assets and deal with matters related to her pre- and post-nuptial financial agreements with her husband."
"I know she had separate finances that she followed very carefully, and she had her own lawyers that she paid a handsome amount to," Grisham recalled.
"Many times it was related to the money she had in her personal bank account."
The negotiations continued throughout Trump's presidency, the book says.
Melania's office confirmed the meetings, but denied the details of the agreement.
"Mrs. Trump had a successful career before she met her husband and has always had her own businesses and assets," a spokesperson told Rogers.
"As an accomplished professional, she meets frequently with her lawyers."
The book also said that Melania and her successor Jill Biden have exchanged birthday cards with each other since Trump left office.
She has also been largely absent from the current campaign for Trump, who promised last week that his wife is expected to appear by his side more regularly as the Nov. 5 election day nears.
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Ivanka Trump
Melania Trump
Donald Trump