Melania Trump to downsize East Wing compared to Michelle Obama's Army

Melania Trump hasn’t followed in the footsteps of previous first ladies and that is just
fine with her supporters. Her move to the White House was delayed several months because
she wanted to remain at home in Trump Tower and let Barron finish out the school year.
Now that the school year is all but over, Melania and Barron are preparing for the big
move to 1600 Pennslyvania Avenue in June.
Melania’s office in the East Wing is staffed by four people, making it seem desolate in
comparison to when Michelle Obama surrounded herself with two dozen staff members. Unlike
Michelle Obama, who kept a staff of 24 at her disposal, Melania won’t be compiling
a small army for the East Wing. The overstaffing in government is one of the things Trump has
honed in on and the staffing of the first ladies office with a couple of dozen people
seems a bit extravagant. This is one of the areas that Trump plans to cut staffing costs,
according to Redbook Magazine.
The last few decades saw the first ladies with a fairly large staff, but Michelle Obama
has outnumbered them when it comes to people she hired on as helpers. Hillary Clinton and
Laura Bush had staff members ranging in number from 13 to 22, depending upon the year. While
Melania won’t be left short-staffed, she certainly won’t hire in droves for her East
Wing office.
She has four trusted staff today, but she may hire a few more once she’s at the White
House full time. For now, she’s content with the choices she’s made, which includes
Lindsay Reynolds, who is her chief of staff, Melania’s social secretary, Anna Christina
“Rickie” Niceta Lloyd, her communications director, Stephanie Grisham and senior adviser
and chief strategist Stephanie Winston Wolkoof.
In Melania Trump’s absence, Ivanka Trump has been occupying the office that is usually
reserved for the first lady. Instead of referring to this space as the “first lady’s office,”
reports have the Trumps calling it the office of the first family. The same report from
the Daily News back in February shared how not only has Ivanka taken up that space, but
she’s redecorated the office. This is when it was revealed that the office is now called
“The First Family Office.”
The change in the first lady’s number of staff members is one big difference Melania
will bring to the White House. Melania and Ivanka are expected to work close together
on the things that would normally fall to the first lady. This is another change, or
actually a first at the White House, according to Redbook. This will entail the daughter
of the president working closely with her step-mother, which is a feat that traditional
families often find hard to do, but this step-mother and step-daughter have become close friends.
While Melania has been behind the scenes for part of the time since Trump has become president
because she is living in New York City, it doesn’t mean she hasn’t had an impact
on her husband. Redbook also reports that Melania is somewhat of a “watchdog” for
her husband when it comes to the media.
She keeps track of what is being said about her husband in the news and reports back to
him. As Politico suggests, Melania hasn’t been happy with the disparaging reports on
the president. They also reported that Melania is “growing increasingly worried about the
anonymous sniping from West Wing staff.”
Her concerns center on his press secretary and his press team. Melania believes that
they are not doing enough to defend Donald Trump when the media goes off on attacks.
Politico suggests Melania appeared “generally aloof” in the past and “removed” from
Trump’s political operations from the get-go, but she is privy to his administration from
the inside. Melania is aware of how her husband’s administration has been perceived as being
consumed by infighting. She is also well aware of the on-going outside investigations.
Because of this, Melania has been speaking up when it comes to “the perceived shortcomings
of staff surrounding the president,” according to Politico. Melania and Donald were introduced
by a mutual friend, who has remained close friends with Melania. Paolo Zampolli, who
was Melania’s former modeling agent as well as being a good friend, sees Melania getting
very aggravated by these leaks and attacks on her husband. Zampolli said,
“Melania loves the president unconditionally, definitely, she really cares about the president,
she feels a kind of protection.” Zampoli also shared how the “main concern to the
president and the first lady is that these leaks are unacceptable.”
White House aides and friends of Trump have said how the president often calls Melania
at night to vent about the dysfunction playing out at the White House. Her recent concerns,
according to Politico are centered on Sean Spicer. She doesn’t think he is doing a
good job. “The leaks bother her” and she feels Spicer and his crew are not doing enough
to defend her husband, the president.

Melania Trump to downsize East Wing compared to Michelle Obama's Army

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