Who Is Stephanie Winston Wolkoff? Melania Trump Ends Contract With Her Adviser

First Lady Melania Trump ended a contract with one of her senior advisers last week whose firm was said to have received millions of dollars from President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee, reports said Monday.

According to a report in the New York Times, Melania’s office terminated the contract with Stephanie Winston Wolkoff who had been friends with the first lady for several years. Wolkoff worked for Melania as her senior adviser on a contractual basis.

Melania’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said the first lady’s office had “severed the gratuitous services contract with Ms. Wolkoff.”

Grisham said Wolkoff had been employed as “a special government employee” to work on specific projects.

“We thank her for her hard work and wish her all the best,” she added.

Grisham also said “Mrs. Trump had no involvement with the [Presidential Inaugural Committee], and had no knowledge of how funds were spent.”

Wolkoff’s termination comes amid a New York Times report that said her event management firm had received nearly $26 million from Trump’s inaugural committee. Wolkoff roped in a close friend David Monn for planning Trump's inaugural event, which had allegedly annoyed the president. The president and the first lady were quite disappointed with the report which might have led to Wolkoff’s termination, the report said.

According to the report, Wolkoff received $1.62 million separately from the committee while Monn was paid nearly $4 million for helping plan the inaugural event, apart from their firm receiving the hefty amount of $26 million.

Meanwhile, Wolkoff said the White House informed her “that all gratuitous volunteer contracts were ended.”

She said she expected to remain friends with Melania and also defended herself terming the Times report as “completely unfair.”

“I expect to remain a trusted source for advice and support on an informal basis,” she said referring to Melania.

Trump’s inauguration was the most expensive inaugural event the United States had ever witnessed. The 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee’s chairman Thomas J Barrack Jr. was responsible for overseeing the committee’s funding, expenditure, and donation.

Trump’s inaugural committee, which raised over $107 million from donors and corporations, donated only $3 million to hurricane relief efforts.

“The surplus of these privately donated funds will be put to great substantive use for relief victims throughout the heartbreaking regions of America impacted by the recent catastrophic disasters. The committee will continue to curate worthwhile causes and make further contributions that serve America’s agenda and will conclude in accordance with its charter in the next few months,” Barrack Jr. said at the time of donation.

A report published by Newsweek last week said the president’s inaugural committee spent nearly $1.75 million on decoration and maintenance of the White House and split nearly $51 million between Wolkoff’s firm and another company. The name of the other company is unknown.