AP Photo/Evan Vucci
- Stephanie Grisham says she told both the former president and first lady that a White House staffer physically abused her.
- The Trumps "seemed totally unfazed about whether there was an abuser" in the White House, Grisham wrote.
- Politico first reported in July that ex-White House aide Max Miller pushed and slapped Grisham last year.
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Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham says she told both former President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump that a fellow staffer physically abused her while they were dating.
Grisham wrote in a Washington Post op-ed published Tuesday that they both "seemed totally unfazed about whether there was an abuser" in the White House and didn't make any effort to investigate her claims.
Grisham said she first told Melania last fall that Max Miller, a longtime Trump loyalist who was then deputy campaign manager for presidential operations, "got physical with me" the day she broke up with him. Grisham says the first lady asked if she'd reported the incident to the police and when Grisham said she hadn't – in part out of fear of political backlash against the president – the first lady didn't ask any further questions. Grisham didn't use Miller's name in the op-ed.
Grisham, who served in both the East and West Wings during her four years in the Trump White House, said she later told the president that Miller had been physically abusive when he inquired about their break-up on Air Force One after the first presidential debate.
"I told the president that this 'great guy' had anger issues and a violent streak. I was not some stranger making a wild accusation. I hoped that he would take me seriously, that he would do something," she wrote. "After I finished, the president crossed his arms and just said, 'That surprises me. He was really broken up over things.' After we got off the helicopter, Mrs. Trump said she was glad I told him. We never spoke about it again."
In her tell-all memoir, published Tuesday, Grisham writes that Trump made some inappropriate comments about her relationship with Miller and one point asked Miller if she was "good in bed."
The former president has since endorsed Miller's bid for a US House seat in Ohio.
Politico first reported in July that Miller pushed Grisham against a wall and slapped her in the face after she accused him of cheating on her. Miller's attorney denied the claims in a statement to Politico.
A spokesperson for the Trumps didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.