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- Melania Trump is aware of her husband's affairs and is not humiliated by them, her former aide said.
- Stephanie Winston Wolkoff told Page Six her former friend lives in "an ivory tower of denial."
- Melania won't leave Trump and privately says that people are just jealous, Wolkoff said.
Melania Trump lives in "an ivory tower of denial" and is not humiliated by her husband's affairs, according to her former aide.
When former President Donald Trump gave his post-arraignment speech at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, Melania was noticeably absent.
She failed to appear both by her husband's side, despite Trump singling out several family members for praise.
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former close friend and advisor to Melania, said she was not surprised that the former first lady was nowhere to be seen.
"Melania lives in an ivory tower of denial," Wolkoff told Page Six.
" Her silence is deliberate. It is her weapon of choice and her protective armor."
Wolkoff, who was friends with Melania for 15 years and later wrote a tell-all book about her, said the first lady knows her husband's extramarital affairs but has no plans to leave him.
" I don't think Melania is humiliated by his affairs — but she is angry," she said.
"Still, she isn't leaving him," Wolkoff continued. "This is a transactional marriage. She knew what she was getting into when she married Donald. Her means of survival is to just act like it never happened."
Trump was indicted this week on 34 charges concerning a hush-money payment to the adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had a sexual relationship with him. Trump has consistently denied having an affair with her.
"Privately, Melania says people are just jealous, and she hoped the Stormy Daniels scandal would be swept under the carpet," Wolkoff told Page Six, adding that she expected to see Melania by Trump's side at the next Mar-a-Lago social event.
"Her way of coping is never to let her feelings show or affect her," she said.
New York prosecutors have also accused Trump of making another hush-money payment to Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed to have had an affair with him during his marriage to Melania.
Several women have also alleged that Trump sexually harassed or assaulted them during his relationship and marriage to her. Trump has denied all of the allegations, and Melania has stood by him.
Her absence at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday is reminiscent of her actions as first lady, as she often appeared to step away from public view when Trump's alleged affairs made headlines.