Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham served in the position for a year before transitioning to then-First Lady Melania Trump's Chief of Staff without ever giving a traditional White House briefing, opting instead to appear on Trump-friendly networks like Fox News.
After former President Donald Trump's lies about the 2020 election prompted a mob of pro-Trump extremists to storm the United States Capitol in a deadly failed insurrection, Grisham became one of a wave of Trump officials to submit her resignation.
Now, Grisham is preparing to release a new tell-all, I'll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw at the Trump White House. Though the memoir has yet to be released, it's already promising a grim inside look of the Trump administration—including an exchange between Grisham and Melania Trump that may shed light on the former's resignation.
According to the book, Grisham texted Ms. Trump shortly after rioters began breaking through barricades to infiltrate the Capitol.
She asked:
"Do you want to tweet that peaceful protests are the right of every American, but there is no place for lawlessness and violence?"
Melania Trump simply replied:
"No."
Within hours, Grisham submitted her resignation.
The Trump administration has seen a wave of former friends become bitter enemies for their willingness to divulge the family's secrets, such as Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen and former U.N. national security advisor John Bolton.
Grisham, a longtime Trump loyalist, is just the latest to burn that bridge, with the former First Lady's office releasing a statement:
"The intent behind this book is obvious. It is an attempt to redeem herself after a poor performance as press secretary, failed personal relationships, and unprofessional behavior in the White House. Through mistruth and betrayal, she seeks to gain relevance and money at the expense of Mrs. Trump."
People were divided on whether to be shocked or underwhelmed.
It was on her jacket. She "doesn't care".— Rhonda Jones Levy (@Rhonda Jones Levy) 1631560808
So far Stephanie\u2019s book isn\u2019t telling me a damn thing I didn\u2019t already know.— Hopewell Kat \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83d\udc99#Love #Family #Art (@Hopewell Kat \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83d\udc99#Love #Family #Art) 1631559809
Wasn\u2019t she busy doing some photo shoot that day? Probably couldn\u2019t be bothered or really didn\u2019t care.— Care Bear (@Care Bear) 1631561276
#MAGATerroristpic.twitter.com/EsqtQLpCpL— Andre Akerele \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc65\udb40\udc6e\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc7f (@Andre Akerele \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc65\udb40\udc6e\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc7f) 1631559780
And this surprises who?— Barbara Hoffmann (@Barbara Hoffmann) 1631561144
Surprise Surprise— SassyCon (@SassyCon) 1631561900
It also introduced new details regarding the timeline of the White House's reaction to the insurrection.
NEW: Playbook scoops an important moment on the 1/6 timeline. MELANIA Trump was informed of the violence at the Capitol at least *an hour before* Trump tweeted his 2:24 pm attack on VP Pence.\n\nFurther undercuts the paper-thin claim that Trump wasn\u2019t aware Pence faced danger.pic.twitter.com/oJwIrq02Ox— Kyle Cheney (@Kyle Cheney) 1631528926
Soon after rioters broke thru the Capitol barricades on 1/6, STEPHANIE GRISHAM texted MELANIA TRUMP:\n\n\u201cDo you want to tweet that peaceful protests are the right of every American, but there is no place for lawlessness & violence?\u201d\n\nMelania responded \u201cNo.\u201dhttps://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2021/09/13/grisham-dishes-on-melania-494293\u00a0\u2026— Kenneth P. Vogel (@Kenneth P. Vogel) 1631535674
January 6th\n\n1:20 Trump riot breaches capitol\n1:25 Melania Trump gets text asking her to tweet to stop violence\n1:26 Melania texts \u201cNO\u201d (in 1 of her 5 languages)\n2:24 Trump tweets incitement about Mike Pence who supporters want to hang\n\nTell me how this couple is unaccountable.— Mr. Newberger (@Mr. Newberger) 1631549583
The former First Lady was reportedly preoccupied with a photoshoot of a rug she'd just bought.
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