An ex-adviser to Melania Trump criticized her Friday appearance at a National Archives Naturalization Ceremony, claiming that Trump was previously uninterested in attending similar events while serving as first lady, despite being an immigrant herself.
In an interview on CNN, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff called Trump’s appearance and speech “quite repulsive,” suggesting it was a “publicity moment.”
“You know, again, back to today’s naturalization, being in the National Archives with our Constitution, and the Bill of Rights and knowing how she felt about not wanting to actually promote that for so many individuals that have less opportunity than she had, it was just a squandered opportunity,” Winston Wolkoff said.
“And she feels like, you know it’s, again, I keep going back to that publicity moment, and I find it to be really quite repulsive,” Winston Wolkoff continued.
Trump gave remarks at the naturalization ceremony Friday, during which she called the pathway to citizenship in the U.S. “arduous.” She also remarked that after taking the United States Oath of Allegiance — an oath taken by every immigrant to become a U.S. citizen — she felt “a tremendous sense of belonging.”
Former first lady Melania Trump arrives before a tribute service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter at Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, Pool)
“For me, reaching the milestone of American citizenship marked the sunrise of certainty,” she said. “At that exact moment, I forever discarded the layer of burden connected with whether I would be able to live in the United States. I hope you’re blanketed with similar feelings of comfort right now.”
Trump hails from Slovenia and moved to New York City in 1996. Only the second first lady to be born outside the U.S., Trump said when she arrived in the country, she knew she wanted to call it her permanent home. She became a naturalized citizen in 2006.
Trump cut ties with Winston Wolkoff, who served as a “volunteer adviser,” in February 2018, but during the Trump administration White House officials declined to say why it parted ways with Winston Wolkoff, according to a 2018 report from The Washington Post.
Updated at 8:21pm.