She attends meetings and disagrees with her husband, says former Washington Post reporter Ronald Kessler, the author of The Trump White House: Changing the Rules of the Game.
First lady Melania Trump is like a shadow president and exercising more power than most people would imagine, according to the author of a new White House tell-all.
In the new book, The Trump White House: Changing the Rules of the Game by former Washington Post reporter Ronald Kessler, he says Trump’s third wife is "a very powerful force behind the scenes."
“She is very smart," Kessler told Inside Edition. "She actually sits in on meetings, she summarizes what others have said and then she comes up with her own strategy. She will disagree with Trump."
He says she also rules the private residence of the White House with an iron hand.
"Obviously, Trump doesn't listen to her all the time,” Kessler said. “She tries to get him to stop tweeting and of course he ignores that."
The book makes the case that there are actually two Donald Trumps — one intimidating and outspoken, while the other is caring and compassionate.
“The image that he projects is quite different from the real Donald Trump and so, the big surprise is what he is really like behind the scenes when he is not acting," Kessler said.
The book also claims that top Trump aide Hope Hicks, who recently left the White House, caught the eye of many of the president’s billionaire pals.
“Billionaires are always asking Trump to fix them up with Hope Hicks," Kessler said. "He has confided this to friends. He says he has always refused."
In other revelations, Kessler says Trump never wanted Ivanka and Jared Kushner to join him in the White House and he’s bothered about the job they're doing.
"One time he saw Jared on TV and he said, ‘Look at Jared! He looks like a little boy, like a child,'" Kessler said.
While Trump ruthlessly fired people on The Apprentice, he can't bring himself to say those famous words — "You’re fired!" — in real life.
The latest examples come on the heels of the departures of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and VA Secretary David Shulkin via Twitter, not in person or over the phone.
"He will make their lives miserable," Kessler said. "He will let out the word that he wants them fired. But in the end he just can't bring himself to do it himself, because deep down he is a very compassionate person."
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