Melania Trump has had a number of not-so-nice nicknames bestowed on her over the years, but the one that may have stung the most came from inside the (white) house. The nickname in question? Rapunzel. And no, it wasn’t because of her long locks.
Melania’s former chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, made the “Rapunzel” moniker public, and she did so in her tell-all book, “I’ll Take Your Questions Now.” According to Grisham, Secret Service agents began using the nickname because of Melania’s habit of staying within the confines of her own personal tower, the executive residence. Yikes. Of course, it does bear mentioning that Grisham outlined some of the perks that came with Melania’s preference for staying in one place. For one, it certainly made for much less stressful working conditions. In fact, Grisham claimed that some of the agents specifically asked to work with the first lady so they’d be able to have more time with their own loved ones. Hey, a win is a win!
Ironically, “Rapunzel” wasn’t the first nickname Melania would earn for seemingly mastering the art of doing nothing. Au contraire, in “The Art of Her Deal,” Melania’s biographer, Mary Jordan, claimed that early on in the First Lady’s relationship with Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump referred to her as “The portrait.” The meaning behind that? Melania “spoke as much as a painting on the wall,” Jordan wrote. At the time of the book’s release, Grisham had not yet resigned as Melania’s chief of staff and dismissed the claim in no uncertain terms. “Yet another book about Mrs. Trump with false information and sources … This book belongs in the fiction genre,” she said, according to People. The fairytale aisle, maybe?
Melania is said to have dished out some nicknames, too
As it turns out, Melania Trump hasn’t only been on the receiving end of shady nicknames. In fact, according to Stephanie Grisham (that is, the same Grisham who brought to light the “Rapunzel” sobriquet and claimed there was no truth to “The Portrait”), Melania had a nickname for Ivanka Trump, too. That would be “Princess.” Grisham revealed in “I’ll Take Your Questions Now” that she and Melania would use the name when referring to Donald Trump’s eldest daughter — and that they weren’t the only ones.
It’s not clear if “Princess” started off as a dig. After all, Donald’s supporters have long referred to her by the royal nickname, and it’s certainly come across as a term of endearment. However, there’s no question that by the time Grisham and Melania were using it in conversations, there was a spiteful edge to it. Grisham has notably compared both Ivanka and Jared Kushner to wannabe royals and, in particular, complained that during the U.S. state visit to the United Kingdom, the former took every opportunity to “grab all the face time with Queen Elizabeth, her ‘fellow royal.'” It has also been said that Ivanka’s overenthusiasm at events like the state visit and in her father’s first administration, in general, played a role in her and Melania’s relationship changing for the worse, so yeah — definitely not a friendly nickname.
As far as nicknames go, even though “Rapunzel,” “Princess,” and “The Portrait” were intended as jabs, they do paint a pretty picture. As for Donald’s take on it all, with his obsession with royalty well-documented, we have a feeling he was thrilled to hear about it. Well, if not a little jealous.
