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The relationship between the Trumps and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been a subject of scrutiny, most especially on the part of former President Donald Trump. However, it seems that even former first lady Melania Trump may have been brought into the scrutiny as she was purposely seated next to Putin during a G20 Summit as a prank by the event’s hosts.
In a three-part series on BBC titled “Trump Takes on the World,” Former Russia expert on the National Security Council Dr. Fiona Hill claimed that the seating arrangements during the G20 Summit were purposely made in order to seat the now-former first lady next to the Russian leader. The event also happened to be the first in-person meeting between the Trumps and Putin and followed months of speculation that the 2016 elections which Trump won were rigged by Russian operatives. Dr. Hill shared that the topic of his election win coupled with the speculation that Russia had interfered reportedly made the now-former president uncomfortable during their press call, and would only be made even more uncomfortable during the dinner.
“We learned late that the Germans had made the, for us, the inconceivable decision to seat the first lady next to President Putin,” shared Dr. Hill, who was a witness during Trump’s first impeachment trial. “They could have placed her next to anyone in the G20, but no, they had to pick President Putin, knowing full well that everyone would be scrutinizing every interaction and so President Trump went over, as was inevitable, to talk to his wife.”
With Joe Biden starting off the Justice Department on a clean slate, his DOJ has now dropped the lawsuit the former first lady once filed against her former aide and friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff. Wolkoff penned the tell-all memoir about her friendship with the former first lady “Melania & Me,” where details of what she was like behind the scenes surfaced, including the airing of recorded conversations she had.
A DOJ official confirmed the dismissal to People, noting that the department has evaluated the case and dropped it “without prejudice.” At the time of the lawsuit, the then-officials cited that Wolkoff violated a non-disclosure agreement that she signed when she worked as an adviser in the East Wing.
