Former First Lady Melania Trump is making former President Donald Trump "quite worried" ahead of his hush money payment, scheduled to begin next week, said former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg last year charged Trump on a 34-count indictment for allegedly making the payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. His office has accused Trump of paying Daniels to prevent her from making public comments about her allegations of an affair with the former president, which he has denied.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has maintained his innocence in the case, as he has each of the criminal cases he faces. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and has accused Bragg of targeting him for political purposes.
The trial is set to begin on Monday, April 15, marking the first time the former president will be tried for criminal charges.
Grisham, who served in the Trump White House in various positions including press secretary and Melania Trump's chief of staff, weighed in on how the former first lady may be dealing with the trial during an interview on CNN this week.
"I would imagine that she is pushing him to make this stop. I would imagine that she would push him to go on the stand and defend himself because this is very, very embarrassing for her. It's humiliating for her, and I can guarantee you that she's not happy right now and that he's quite worried about that," she said.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign via email and Grisham via Instagram message for comment.
While the trial may not be the most high stakes legally, these specific charges are "very personal to him," Grisham said.
She said the allegations are an "embarrassment to him with his family, and more importantly with his wife Melania," reflecting on how she responded when Daniels first made these accusations public.
"She didn't take it lightly at all. We went to the State of the Union separately. She refused to walk out to Marine One with him because she didn't want to be like Hillary Clinton and standing by her man. She's a very independent and strong woman," Grisham said.
Grisham has become increasingly critical of her former boss in recent years following the January 6, 2021, riot, when a group of Trump supporters violently protested the 2020 election results at the United States Capitol building. She resigned from her position as Melania's chief of staff the same day.
She has since grown critical of Trump, in January issuing a warning about what a second term for Trump would mean for democracy.
"It's important for people who were like me or who are like me now, who really believe in him, to understand how another Trump presidency will be," Grisham said on CNN. "So what is democracy? That's people having the freedom to act and speak freely. I think under Trump, you're not going to be able to do that, or you are going to be able to do that as long as you're talking about him just in positive ways."
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Andrew Stanton is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in Maine. His role is reporting on U.S. politics and social issues. ... Read more
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