Melania Trump only visited her East Wing office TWICE as first lady so aides turned it into a 'swag room' to store and wrap gifts

Melania Trump only visited her East Wing office twice as first lady and, since she used it so infrequently, aides turned it into a 'swag room' to wrap gifts.

Aides could only recall two instances when Melania Trump trekked from the second-floor White House residence down to her East Wing office: once when then-aide Stephanie Winston Wolkoff had called for a meeting and another 'occurred when she was nearby and felt like surprising her staff,' author Katie Rogers reveals in her forthcoming book 'American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden.'

So aides turned it into what they called the 'swag room': a place to keep and wrap gifts given that 'her desk was the only empty surface large enough for gift assemblage.'

Melania Trump walks through her holiday decorations in the East Wing of the White House, a place she rarely visited, in November 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. 

It traces the evolution of the role from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden. 

For Melania Trump, Rogers, a White House reporter for the New York Times, reveals new details about Melania's rivalry with stepdaughter Ivanka Trump, how Melania saw her role as first lady and what she may do if she gets four more years at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

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

Melania was a mysterious first lady. 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).  

One of the surprising revelations from American Woman was how little physical time Melania spent in the East Wing, the section of office space that hosts the first lady's team, the White House Visitors' Office and the military affairs office.

Given it's lack of use by its designated occupant, aides repurposed it. 

They had Ikea-like shelving installed. 

The gifts stored there, Rogers reveals, included: First Lady–themed coins and keychains, bowls etched with the image of the White House, an array of dishes made of pewter, plush robes for guests at the Executive Residence, leather desk sets, salt-and-pepper shakers, crystal bookends, baby rattles, golf balls, and golf towels.

The gifts were kept under lock and key, and entry required a signature on an official sheet.

Melania enjoyed picking out and sending gifts to friends and Trump allies. She did so from the White House residence, using a binder that contained photos of the inventory to make her picks.

There was one major down side to Melania's absence that would move forward to affect first lady Jill Biden. 

Melania Trump meets with Microsoft President Brad Smith and Executive Director of Communications Carol Ann Brown in May 2019 in the Map Room, a place she preferred to have meetings with aides as it was close to the White House residence

Melania Trump, with Donald Trump at the White House in 2018, rarely appeared in public and, when she did, aides would try to get her to go to meetings or record videos since her hair and makeup was already done

The White House military office annexed a suite of offices traditionally used by the first lady's team, turning the 'the unused space into a sensitive information facility, a secure place where secret and classified information can be viewed or exchanged. The facility still exists today, to the annoyance of several Biden East Wing aides who say they could use the real estate.'

Office space in the White House complex is at a premium and once it's gone, it's gone. 

Not interested in office life, Melania, instead, camped out in the residence where she would occasionally call in staff to update her on the happenings two-floors below. 

But her interest in the volunteer, unpaid role of first lady dwindled as the Trump administration chugged on. 

In the early days she would meet with important guests and her aides in the Map Room, which is near the elevator to the family residence and was an easy commute.

Often Melania's small staff would try to catch her on days 'when she had her hair and makeup done - usually for events where she appeared with her husband - and convince her to shoot a video or attend a planning event for Be Best,' Rogers writes. 'It always felt like a win when she said yes.'

But one area Melania Trump was interested in was preserving the historic mansion for future use. She had studied architecture and design in school and appeared to genuinely enjoy playing a preservation role at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

She oversaw much needed renovations that made the White House compliant with the American with Disabilities Act. 

She formed a committee to revamp the White House Rose Garden and she also had a tennis pavilion installed with the goal of creating a space for future first families to use. 

Both moves brought her instant criticism. 'Melania hailed the tennis pavilion’s completion and was instantly criticized for celebrating an architectural upgrade in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic,' Rogers writes. 'The Rose Garden redesign, while approved by a preservation committee, was derided by the public as an unnecessary facelift.'

Aides say Melania Trump's interest in being first lady diminished as Trump's term chugged along

Melania Trump's revamp Rose Garden was immediately criticized as an 'unnecessary facelift'

Melania Trump added a tennis pavilion to the White House grounds

Melania did not campaign much for her husband in the 2020 election. Unlike her husband, she accepted his loss 'in large part, aides said, because it meant she could return to her old life.' 

Within days she had directed staff on how to pack up the residence, was looking at schools in Florida for Barron and was ready to return to Palm Beach.

'Her main concern was whether she would still have access to security and to people who could drive her around,' her top aide Stephanie Grisham told Rogers. 

As a former first lady, she gets Secret Service protection for life.