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During the press tour ahead of the release of her new memoir, Raising Trump, Ivana Trump has spoken at length about her relationship with the president, commenting on his Twitter behavior (she takes credit for his encouraging his use of the social media platform) and the position as ambassador to the Czech Republic she reportedly turned down.
It was a comment to ABC about being the true first lady, however, that has Melania Trump’s camp speaking out to set the record straight. On Monday afternoon, a spokesperson for Melania blasted Ivana’s comments as “attention seeking” and nothing more than “self-serving noise.”
JUST IN: Melania Trump spox responds to Ivana Trump’s assertion (“I’m first lady”) blasting it as “attention seeking & self-serving noise.”
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) October 9, 2017
Ivana and Donald first married in 1977 and divorced in 1992 after having three children together: Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka. However, despite their separation and Donald’s subsequent two wives (it was Donald’s affair with second wife Marla Maples that caused their split), Ivana maintains that she and the president still speak regularly.
“I have the direct number to White House, but I don’t really want to call him there because Melania is there and I don’t really want to cause any kind of jealousy or something like that because I’m basically first Trump wife, OK? I’m first lady, OK?” she said.
In a statement to CNN, the first lady’s communications director Stephanie Grisham said, “Mrs. Trump has made the White House a home for Barron and the president. She loves living in Washington, D.C., and is honored by her role as first lady of the United States. She plans to use her title and role to help children, not sell books.”
She added, “There is clearly no substance to this statement from an ex, this is unfortunately only attention-seeking and self-serving noise.”
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