Melania Trump axed a plan to sit by her husband in an interview after the 'Access Hollywood' tape came out, the book Fear reveals. Photo / AP
Melania Trump axed a plan to sit by her husband in an interview after the 'Access Hollywood' tape came out, the book Fear reveals. Photo / AP
Melania Trump refused to sit at her husband's side in a show of support during the 2016 campaign after the infamous Access Hollywood tape came to light.
In his book Fear, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward revealed the campaign wanted Trump to give an interview to one of the news networks with wife Melania sitting at one side of him and daughter Ivanka on the other after he was heard on tape making lewd comments about women.
But Melania Trump axed the plan.
The infamous Access Hollywood tape surfaced during the presidential campaign. Photo / Supplied
It was "clear she was seething", Woodward wrote in his book, a copy of which was obtained by the DailyMail.com. It comes out September 11.
And she declined to help her husband in his moment of need.
"Not doing that," Melania said in her Slovenian accent, dismissively waving her hand. "No way. No, no, no."
She did consent to releasing a statement on the incident, saying: "The words my husband used are unacceptable and offensive to me. This does not represent the man that I know. He has the heart and mind of a leader. I hope people will accept his apology, as I have, and focus on the important issues facing our nation and the world."
She also showed up at a debate in St. Louis, Trump's first debate after the tape came out, wearing a bright pink pussy bow blouse.
The elusive first lady makes few appearances in Woodward's tome, excerpts of which have rocked the White House.
She did warrant this description from former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, who said of her: "Behind the scenes she's a hammer" because of her ability to discern who was sucking up and who was telling the truth to Trump.
Observers told Woodward the first couple seemed to have "sincere affection" for one another although they "never really seemed to merge their lives".
Melania's primary concern was their son, Barron. "She's obsessed with Barron," one person told the author. "That is her focus 100 per cent."
In another anecdote about the first lady, Woodward reports the president worried what his wife would think of revelations in the unverified Steele dossier about his time in Moscow during the 2013 Miss Universe pageant and didn't want her to hear about them.
Fusion GPS commissioned former British spy Christopher Steele to write the dossier on Trump that alleged the Russians have information they could use to blackmail the president, including an allegation - which Trump has denied - that he hired "a number of prostitutes to perform a 'golden showers' (urination) show in front of him" when he was in Moscow for the pageant.
Trump later told his attorney that he felt shaken down by then-FBI director James Comey telling him about the allegation of him and the prostitutes in Moscow.
"I've got enough problems with Melania and girlfriends and all that. I don't need any more. I can't have Melania hearing about that," Trump said, according to the book.
President Trump also didn't want his wife hearing the story that alleges he spent time with prostitutes in Moscow. Photo / AP
Trump brought up the dossier at a private dinner with Comey at the White House in January 2017, shortly after he took the oath of office.
Comey later said he's unsure if he believes Trump's denial that he interacted with prostitutes during the trip.
"Honestly, I never thought these words would come out of my mouth, but I don't know whether the current President of the United States was with prostitutes peeing on each other in Moscow in 2013," Comey told ABC News when he was on his book tour. "It's possible, but I don't know."
That wasn't the only woman problem Trump faced.
During October of the 2016 campaign, The Washington Post reported on a conversation between Trump and Access Hollywood host Billy Bush that featured the then-presidential candidate speaking lewdly about women in an interview taped on the Days of Our Lives set in 2005.
Trump, referring to actress Arianne Zucker - whom he and Bush were waiting to meet - says: "I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the p****. You can do anything."
The book says Melania's primary concern is their son, Barron. "She's obsessed with Barron," one person told the author. "That is her focus 100 per cent." Photo / AP
After the tape was released, other women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct on his part.
Leaders in his own party - Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker Paul Ryan - withdrew their endorsements from his presidential campaign.
But Trump answered the allegations and the calls from his own Republicans to drop out of the presidential race with a tweet: "The media and establishment want me out of the race so badly - I WILL NEVER DROP OUT OF THE RACE, WILL NEVER LET MY SUPPORTERS DOWN!"
He also deflected blame to former President Bill Clinton.
The book comes out in the US on September 11. Photo / Supplied
"This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course - not even close. I apologise if anyone was offended," he said in a statement.
He also later accused Hillary Clinton, his 2016 Democratic rival, of bullying Bill Clinton's victims.
Trump invited women who had accused Bill Clinton of harassment to the October 2016 presidential debate in St Louis, which was the first debate that took place in the tape's aftermath.
