Inside the Trump White House, no figure generates more apprehension among staff than First Lady Melania Trump, according to journalist Michael Wolff’s latest column published on his Substack newsletter, HOWL. The bestselling “Fire and Fury” author contends that aides constantly worry about her unpredictability, with anxiety heightened following her public denial of any ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
In his piece titled “Melania: The Wild Card,” Wolff characterizes the first lady as someone operating beyond anyone’s control—including President Donald Trump himself. Staff members cannot rule out the possibility she might publicly break from the administration, a scenario that keeps them in a state of persistent unease.
The journalist, who has chronicled the Trump presidency for years, describes White House personnel as deeply troubled by their inability to predict what the first lady might do next. While most believe she won’t actively work against her husband’s administration, they admit they cannot be certain.
Frosty Relations Between President and First Lady
The marriage between the president and first lady has reached its coldest point since the Stormy Daniels trial, Wolff writes, describing a period of extraordinary tension. Communication between the couple has virtually ceased, and any pretense that she maintains full-time residence at the White House has effectively disappeared. Earlier reporting has indicated she primarily resides in New York City instead of Washington.
Wolff added that “Every appearance is a negotiated one.” He portrays her as more independent and distant from the president than during any previous phase of their relationship. This growing autonomy, rather than specific complaints, represents the genuine wild card factor.
The unpredictability infiltrates even minor scheduling matters, Wolff writes. Almost nobody in the president’s inner circle—the president included—knows her intentions until she acts on them.
Commercial Ventures Spark West Wing Concern
Staff anxiety extends beyond personal dynamics to Melania Trump’s business activities, which Wolff says cause greater alarm than those of the president’s children. The real concern isn’t profit itself but the public spotlight her ventures draw—potentially putting her in direct competition with the president for media focus. In the Trump family hierarchy, making money is tolerated; stealing the spotlight is not, according to Wolff.
Financial disclosure documents released by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics on June 30 reveal significant earnings despite mixed commercial results. The 927-page filing shows the Trumps received $10.71 million from licensing her documentary “Melania” to Amazon MGM Studios, owned by Jeff Bezos. The studio spent approximately $75 million producing the film, which followed the first lady during the 20 days preceding her husband’s second inauguration. Despite earning only $16.7 million in worldwide ticket sales, the project remained financially successful for the family. Additionally, her 2024 memoir, also titled “Melania,” generated $521,000 in reported income.
Administration Fires Back
White House spokesman Davis Ingle responded harshly to the column, calling Wolff “a lying piece of s–t.” The rebuttal avoided addressing any specific claims from the piece, instead attacking the journalist’s credibility—a familiar pattern in the administration’s dealings with Wolff.
Wolff concludes by positioning the first lady as the sole element outside a protective shield erected around the president. While Trump faces obvious political vulnerabilities—his business arrangements, questions about his associates, health speculation—congressional leaders, billionaires, lawyers, doctors, and aides have collaborated to deflect scrutiny, in Wolff’s view. His wife stands as the one variable that machinery cannot manage: a wild card the president appears unable to control or predict.
Like much of his Trump-era work, Wolff’s reporting relies on anonymous sources and his own analysis, and the White House has categorically denied the assertions. What remains undeniable is that the journalist has focused on the Trump family member who maintains the lowest public profile—and who, by his account, keeps everyone around her in constant uncertainty.