First lady Melania Trump delayed her move to the White House because she was renegotiating her prenuptial agreement with her husband, a new book claims.
In the forthcoming The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump, reporter Mary Jordan of the Washington Post writes that Melania Trump was angered by revelations about President Trump that were reported by the media, according to the Post.
So she put off moving into the White House until her prenuptial agreement could be amended, saying that she was “taking care of Barron,” the couple’s son.
Melania Trump’s delay in moving into the presidential mansion raised eyebrows at the time, though representatives for the first lady said that she wanted to stay in New York so Barron could finish his school year. Some speculated that she was angry about the leaked Access Hollywood tape in which President Trump said that famous men could get away with grabbing women “by the pussy.”
The book claims that the original prenuptial agreement between the Trumps was “incredibly generous,” but that Melania Trump still had leverage in the relationship because she had a “calming effect” on the president.
In the book, Jordan also argues that Melania Trump is more supportive of her husband than people realize. “She is … much more like him than it appears,” Jordan writes.
The Art of Her Deal is slated for publication next Tuesday by Simon Schuster.
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
