The 2018 meeting between the two world leaders caught the globe's attention but Grisham says there was more going on than the world at large could see.
Former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham was at the famous summit in 2018 when Donald Trump met with Vladimir Putin. In an interview with Inside Edition, Grisham said she believes the Russian strongman used a beautiful translator to distract the American president.
“She was very attractive,” Grisham told Inside Edition. “Putin introduced her to President Trump and Trump talked to her and I had never seen him talk to another translator. As we know Putin is former KGB and knows what peoples weakness are and he was trying to throw him off his game.”
Grisham, who started working in the White House as then-First Lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff, said she was pleasantly surprised by Melania’s disposition.
“My impression of her was that she was really funny; she smiled a lot more because generally when you see her, she has the model face going,” she said.
But Grisham said Melania was rarely seen around the office of the White House and instead stayed in the family quarters, adding, “she was an absent boss.”
In fact, Grisham said, the Secret Service gave her that nickname of “Rapunzel” because she rarely left the family quarters.
More revelations about Grisham's time in the White House are in her new book, “I’ll Take Your Questions Now.” She said it has been “tough” handling the pushback she has been getting as a result of her book, and that she is concerned for her safety.
She said that working for Trump was like being in an abusive relationship.
“When you are abused all you want is your abuser to be happy and Donald Trump was very much that way,” she said. “His words cut. He’s a large, intimidating man and his face turns so red. There were a couple of times I was scared.”
When Grisham had to quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19, she got a call from Trump and said he was “so nice.”
However, that didn’t last, she claims that once she got back to the Oval Office, “he just turned to me and said, ‘where the F have you been! I have been all alone! You are worthless!”
It all came to a head for Grisham on Jan. 6 when she says she urged the first lady to denounce the Capitol riots. Melania said no, and Grisham quit.
“I was the first person to resign,” she said. “I was profoundly disappointed in Mrs. Trump that day. I still don’t know why she said no. She, for me, has always been the rational one.”
