Melania Trump reportedly used delay in moving to the White House as 'leverage' in renegotiating prenup
First lady Melania Trump reportedly used her delayed arrival to the White House in 2017 to renegotiate her prenup — and to "cool off."
That's according to a new book on the first lady, The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Mary Jordan. According to a Washington Post report on the book ahead of its release, it reveals that when the first lady didn't immediately join Trump at the White House in 2017 and stayed behind in New York, she was "using her delayed arrival to the White House as leverage for renegotiating her prenuptial agreement with President Trump."
In addition to wanting to "amend her financial arrangement with Trump — what Melania referred to as 'taking care of Barron,'" she also "needed time to cool off" after the sexual misconduct allegations made against the president during the campaign, the Post says. At the time, the first lady publicly said she was staying behind so Barron Trump could finish the school year in New York; she finally moved into the White House in June 2017.
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Evidently, the renegotiation was a success, as according to the report, by mid-2018, White House observers noticed an "uptick in her mood" after, "according to three people close to Trump," Jordan writes, "Melania had finally renegotiated the prenup to her liking."
"She wanted proof in writing that when it came to financial opportunities and inheritance, Barron would be treated as more of an equal to Trump's oldest three children," Jordan says in the book. The original prenup reportedly "had not been incredibly generous," the Post writes. Read more at The Washington Post.
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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