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- Stephanie Grisham said she previously told Melania Trump that she would never write a tell-all book.
- In an interview, Grisham said she was "disgusted" when Melania's former aide wrote a book about her.
- Grisham on Tuesday published her own book, which includes allegations about Melania Trump.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Stephanie Grisham's new book about her time working in the Trump administration came out on Tuesday, but she reportedly once told former first lady Melania Trump that she would never write such a memoir.
In a new interview with New York Magazine, Grisham said she was "disgusted" when Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a longtime friend and former advisor to Melania, released a bombshell tell-all about her in September 2020.
The book, "Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship With the First Lady," included damning accounts about Melania's relationship with Trump's daughter, Ivanka, and about the former first lady's decision to wear a controversial jacket that read "I really don't care, do u?" on a trip to the southern border. Wolkoff also cast Melania in a negative light, calling her selfish and saying she felt betrayed when the former first lady cut ties with her.
At the time of the book's publication, Grisham was serving as Melania's chief of staff.
"Stephanie Winston Wolkoff – when her book came out, I was disgusted," Grisham told New York Magazine. "I remember saying to Mrs. Trump how I would never do that."
Yet Grisham eventually wrote her book, "I'll Take Your Questions Now," which details several allegations about Melania, including that she refused to meet with a Republican lawmaker after he got shot at a congressional baseball practice and that she referred to Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, as "the interns."
Melania has repeatedly dismissed the claims in Grisham's book and pushed back on her former aide.
"The author is desperately trying to rehabilitate her tarnished reputation by manipulating and distorting the truth about Mrs. Trump," Melania's office said in a statement on Monday. "Ms. Grisham is a deceitful and troubled individual who doesn't deserve anyone's trust."
Grisham told New York Magazine that she decided to write the book to warn the country not to re-elect Trump if he chooses to run for president again.
"If I was going to write the book, I wanted to be really honest and not make myself out to be some hero. I hate when people do that," she told the news outlet. "Even if you hate me, I hope some of the things in my book make you rethink 2024. If he runs and wins, he won't have to worry about reelection this time and he can do whatever he wants. That's scary."