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Melania Trump calls Stephanie Grisham 'deceitful' over Marie Antoinette comparisons

Stephanie Grisham was the first press secretary in US history never to hold a press conference during her tenure

Former First Lady Melania Trump slammed her former chief of staff Stephanie Grisham on Monday, October 4, as a “deceitful and troubled individual" over allegations detailed in her new memoir.

Grisham's book 'I’ll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw at the Trump White House' takes aim at former POTUS Donald J Trump and his family during their time at the White House. Grisham, who became the first lady’s chief of staff after serving as White House press secretary, accused the former president of having a "terrifying" temper as well as an "unusual interest" in one of her assistants. She also said that there were concerns the Trumps would “look like the Beverly Hillbillies” when the family met Queen Elizabeth in 2019.

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Grisham stated in her book that Trump described his penis to her in a phone call after a former mistress had made remarks about it. She described Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner as “obnoxious, entitled know-it-alls” who hijacked the White House’s early response to the pandemic. The former Trump staffer compared Melania to French queen Marie Antoinette and alleged that the former first lady refused to send out a message condemning the US Capitol riots on January 6 as she was busy with a photoshoot for a new rug.

Responding to the aspersions, Melania Trump said in an official statement that Grisham had "manipulated" the truth. “The author is desperately trying to rehabilitate her tarnished reputation by manipulating and distorting the truth about Mrs. Trump,” the statement read. “Ms Grisham is a deceitful and troubled individual who doesn’t deserve anyone’s trust.”

Her husband, the 45th President of the United States, issued his own statement denouncing Grisham last week. "Stephanie didn’t have what it takes and that was obvious from the beginning," Trump said in a statement. "She became very angry and bitter after her break up and as time went on she was seldom relied upon, or even thought about. She had big problems and we felt that she should work out those problems for herself."

"Now, like everyone else, she gets paid by a radical left-leaning publisher to say bad and untrue things," he continued. "Too bad that sleaze bag publishers continue to report this very boring garbage. We and the MAGA movement are totally used to it. And someday in the not too distant future, we will have our voice back and be treated fairly by the press," he added.

Speaking to ABC News's George Stephanopoulos in an interview Monday, October 4, Grisham said she "expected" such attacks. “This is right out of their playbook,” she said. “When they don’t like the message, they’re going to destroy the messenger... I notice she’s not denying anything fully in the book just yet. I think she knows that I have a lot of receipts to show that I’m being fully honest.” She warned that if Trump returns to the White House in 2024 he will focus on “revenge.”

Grisham first served as an aide in Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. According to her book, she was the first press secretary in US history never to hold a press conference during her tenure from July 2019 to April 2020 — at Trump's orders.