Melania Trump Was Reportedly Just A ‘Trophy Wife’ To ‘Absent Father’ Donald Trump Before His Presidency

President Donald Trump’s marriage has been under the spotlight for the better part of a year, and that isn’t about to change. In his new book, author Michael Wolff claims that Trump thought of First Lady Melania Trump as his “trophy wife” and that the couple rarely saw each other prior to the election. How did Trump respond to the explosive claims?

Trump And Melania Spend Time Apart

According to Newsweek, Wolff’s book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, was released on Friday and features 200 interviews with individuals close to the Trump administration, including Steve Bannon, Trump’s former strategist. Wolff writes that Trump and Melania rarely spent time together throughout their 12 years of marriage. They would even go days without seeing each other, despite both of them living inside of Trump Tower.

“Often she did not know where he was, or take much notice of that fact. Her husband moved between residences as he would move between rooms. Along with knowing little about his whereabouts, she knew little about his business, and took at best modest interest in it,” Wolff shared.

Trump Calls Melania His Trophy Wife

According to Daily Mail, Wolff claims that Trump also boasted to friends about how Melania was his “trophy wife.” Despite not spending a lot of time together, Trump would praise Melania in front of his friends, which often resulted in an awkward situation for her.

The book further says that Trump was not a present father figure for the couple’s son, Barron. When Trump won the presidency, Melania was worried that it would destroy the life she had grown to love over the years, which included being a close mom to Barron.

Trump Was Surprised That He Won

Wolff’s accusations don’t end there. He also claims that Trump was surprised when he won the election and didn’t want to become president. Melania also didn’t think Trump would beat Hillary Clinton and allegedly cried after the election results came in.

Melania Trump spox on "Fire & Fury":

“The book is clearly going to be sold in the bargain fiction section. Mrs. Trump supported her husband's decision to run for President and in fact, encouraged him to do so. She was confident he would win and was very happy when he did.”

— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) January 3, 2018

According to Wolff, Trump only ran to increase his fame and thought a loss would boost his business and give his daughter, Ivanka, a platform. His alleged grand plans backfired when he won the election, and it sounds like Melania was just as shocked as everyone else.

Melania And Trump Fire Back

In light of Wolff’s book, Stephania Grisham, Melania’s personal communications director, released a statement bashing the claims. Grisham assured the public that Melania fully supported Trump’s bid for the presidency and was extremely happy when he won. Trump has also released a statement on social media about the book.

Trump said that he never authorized any access to his administration and that he turned down Wolff’s requests to do interviews with members of his staff. He then called Wolff’s book phony and full of lies.

Wolff’s credibility may be in question, but there’s no denying that his book will become an instant best seller. For Donald and Melania Trump, the accusations have put additional pressure on their marriage, which has come under considerable fire ever since Trump was sworn into office. It doesn’t look like that is going to change anytime soon.