Melania Trump went to war with Ivanka over her office and constantly had lawyers in the White House to discuss her prenup, new book reveals

Melania Trump spent her four years in the White House in an epic internal battle with her step-daughter Ivanka, met repeatedly with her lawyers about her pre and post-nups, and used her clothing - including that jacket - to speak for her. 

The Slovenian-born first lady spent her time in the role 'bucking expectations,' notes Katie Rogers in her forthcoming book 'American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden.'

She was rarely seen in public, gave few interviews and even her signature initiative 'Be Best' left people wondering exactly what it meant (and hoped to accomplish). 

And, as Donald Trump runs for a second term, she has refused to campaign with him, leading to speculation she could be a first lady from Palm Beach if he wins the 2024 election. 

There was talk from the day Donald Trump was elected there intense, competitive relationship between the two women in his life: his eldest daughter and his wife.

Rogers, a White House reporter for the New York Times, reveals new details about that rivalry, about Melania's time at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and what the former first lady may do if she gets four more years.

Ivanka Trump and Melania Trump spent their time in the White House in a four-year 'internal power struggle'; above a rare picture of the two women together from that time period - they stand next to one another as they watch Donald Trump's inaugural parade in January 2017

Rogers' book, out Tuesday, shines a spotlight on modern first ladies as two of them - Jill Biden and Melania Trump - wait to see if their husbands' quest for a second term in the White House succeeds. 

The book examines the evolution of the unpaid role from when Hillary Clinton held it to the current East Wing ran by Jill Biden, from how each woman shaped the position and how it is tied to the holder's husband. 

Melania Trump made headlines at the start of Donald's presidency by announcing she would stay in New York to allow their son Barron, who was 10 at the time, to finish out the school year. 

Her decision to live 230 miles from the presidential mansion was unprecedented but it fit with her number one priority: protecting her son from the fishbowl of public life. 

Katie Rogers' book on the modern first lady 'American Woman' is out on Tuesday

However, it also left an opening in the administration for the role of first lady - a position Ivanka Trump was eager to fill. 

The first daughter was eying the office space of the East Wing, looking to revamp the area so it could be 'geared to serving the entire First Family, not just the First Lady,' Rogers reports.

Melania put a stop to it and, a month later, Ivanka announced she would be an unpaid adviser in her father's West Wing. 

But that was just the opening shot in the four-year 'internal power struggle' that Melania Trump would wage 'with her stepdaughter,' who she nicknamed 'The Princess.'

The two women had little overlap in the White House complex. 

In fact they were rarely seen together and rarely photographed together. They never hosted a joint initiative or event. 

Tensions were so bad between the two in 2018 over separately planned trips to Africa, then-White House Chief of Staff John Kelly had to step in and mediate between the women and their offices. 

Eventually each woman made a trip: Melania in October 2018 to focus on children's issues as part of her Be Best campaign and Ivanka went in April 2019 to highlight economic development, particularly among women.

Melania Trump with Donald Trump in the Oval Office in September 2019

Melania Trump wearing her now infamous 'I really don't care, do u?' jacket 

Melania Trump often used her clothes to make a statement, such as when she wore a white pantsuit to Donald Trump's 2018 State of the Union address

Donald Trump with the two most prominent women in his life: daughter Ivanka and wife Melania at the Republican National Convention on the South Lawn in August 2020

It wasn't just Ivanka that Melania had concerns about.

The then-first lady 'did not think that it was appropriate for Trump's children to be enmeshed in White House operations,' Rogers reveals.

It was a war she lost. Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner both served as advisers in the West Wing. Don Jr. and Eric advised the Trump campaign and were main surrogates for their father on the campaign trail. 

But Melania did make her feelings known - through her now infamous 'I really don't care, do you?' jacket.

The then-first lady famously wore the jacket in June 2018 as she boarded her Air Force flight to visit to the Upbring New Hope Children's Shelter in McAllen, Texas, where migrant children separated from their parents as they crossed the border were being held.

Melania, an immigrant herself who became a U.S. citizen in 2006, had pushed Donald Trump to issue an executive order that stopped his administration's policy of separating families at the border. 

'In large part, the bullheaded Donald had been cowed into action because Melania had been adamant that wrenching children away from their parents was wrong,' Rogers writes.

Melania decided to visit a shelter for herself, but she undermined her own trip with her curious clothing choice: a $39 jacket from Zara with a divisive message: 'I really don't care. Do U?'

She was criticized as being tone deaf with the outfit selection, given the tense situation as so many children remained separated from their parents and guardians, who had been detained while trying to enter the US. 

Stephanie Grisham, a top aide to the first lady, told Rogers that, when they returned to the White House from the trip, Trump pulled her and Melania into the Oval Office, where he 'yelled at them, and then decided that the official explanation for the jacket would be that Melania was speaking directly to the media.'

Melania backed up her husband. She later told ABC News in an interview that the message was 'for the people and for the left-wing media who are criticizing me.'

She added: 'I want to show them that I don't care. You could criticize whatever you want to say, but it will not stop me to do what I feel is right.

'It's obvious I didn't wear the jacket for the children,' she said. 'I wore the jacket to go on the plane and off the plane. After the visit, I put it back on because I see how [the] media got obsessed about it.' 

But other Trump administration officials said the jacket was a message to 'the Trumps - specifically, the president's eldest daughter, Ivanka.'

Melania and Ivanka, during their White House years, 'were locked in a quiet competition for press coverage.' Melania also wanted to convey her displeasure with Trump's children involving themselves in White House operations. 

It wasn't the only time Melania let her clothes speak for her. In January 2018, at her husband's State of the Union address, the then-first lady wore a white pants suit - a symbol of the suffragists and contemporary women's empowerment. 

That speech was the first time the Trumps had been seen in public together since news broke of his affair with porn star Stormy Daniels, which allegedly took place shortly after Melania gave birth to Barron (Trump has denied the affair).

Melania also made news during her solo trip to Africa when she donned a white pith helmet, a symbol of colonial rule, and when she essentially put on a fashion show in front of the pyramids when she posed in a pantsuit and tie.

'I wish people would focus on what I do, not what I wear,' she lamented in rare public comments.

Melania Trump was criticized for wearing a white pith helmet, a symbol of colonialism, on her Africa trip (left); Melania Trump gave a fashion show of sorts in front of the pyramids (right)

Melania Trump didn't just object to Ivanka, she worried about all of Trump's adult children meshing themselves in the White House - above the Trump family and Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20, 20217

Melania Trump's number one priority as first lady was protecting her son Barron

But much of Melania's time as first lady was holding 'meetings with teams of lawyers to examine her assets and attend to matters associated with her pre- and postnuptial agreements with her husband,' Grisham told Rogers for her American Woman book.

Melania had re-negotiated her prenup with Donald after he won the presidency, Washington Post reporter Mary Jordan revealed in her biography of Melania called 'The Art of Her Deal.'

That book revealed how Melania Trump used her new-found leverage as first lady to renegotiate her pre-marriage deal, ensuring her son Barron would be treated the same as the president's three eldest children from his marriage to Ivana Trump.

'She wanted proof in writing that when it came to financial opportunities and inheritance, Barron would be treated as more of an equal to Trump's oldest three children,' Jordan writes. Barron Trump was 10 when his father was elected president.

She wanted to ensure that Barron got his 'rightful share of inheritance,' particularly if Ivanka Trump took the reins of the family business.

'According to three people close to Trump, a key reason was that she had finally reached a new and significantly improved financial agreement with Trump, which had left her in a noticeably better financial position,' Jordan wrote of the marital negotiations. 'Those sources did not know precisely what she sought, but it was not simply more money.'

It was about Barron. 'Melania wanted and got options for him,' the author noted. 

And Rogers adds more details, noting that 'negotiations were ongoing not only before Melania moved from New York but throughout the Trump presidency.'

'I know that she had very separate finances that she watched very carefully, and she had her own lawyers that she met with a good amount,' Grisham recalled. 'It often had to do with prenups and money in the bank that she had personally.' 

Melania's office confirmed the meetings but denied the pre-nup details.

'Mrs. Trump had a successful career before she met her husband and has always had her own businesses and assets,' a spokesperson for her told Rogers. 'As an accomplished professional, she frequently meets with her counsel.'

Melania is 'largely motivated by the security and comfort of her lifestyle,' associates told Rogers.

She is homebody, who prefers the comforts that Mar-a-Lago, with its private beach and luxury spa, can offer.

Unlike her husband, she accepted Donald's loss in the 2020 election to Joe Biden 'in large part, aides said, because it meant she could return to her old life.'

And she appears reluctant to leave it.

Melania Trump has been noticeable by her absence.

She has not been with Trump during any of his courtroom appearances during his legal battles in federal court and two state courts. 

She has not appeared at his side as he has railed against a 'witch hunt' against him via the legal system. 

And she has not appeared at a campaign event since Donald Trump announced in November 2022 that he would once again seek the presidency. 

Donald and Melania Trump leaving the White House on January 20, 2021 - Joe Biden's inauguration day

Melania Trump has not appeared at a campaign event since Donald Trump announced in November 2022 that he would once again seek the presidency (above)

Rogers, based on her interviews for her books, speculates how Melania Trump may manage another four more years in the White House: 'Perhaps she would be a First Lady based in Palm Beach.'

'According to people close to the Trumps, Melania is focused on getting her son into college. She has declined requests from her husband to make appearances on the campaign trail, though Trump campaign officials say that this may change as the campaign heats up.'

'But people who know her say she is happy keeping to herself behind the walled gates of Mar-a-Lago or ensconced in Trump Tower.'