Former aide insists Melania’s marriage to Trump is just a ‘mirage’ dreamed up by TV producers

A former senior adviser to Melania Trump claimed in a recent social media thread that the former first lady’s marriage to Donald Trump was a facade.

“What catapulted Donald J. Trump ‘businessman’ and his ‘supermodel’ wife to the White House was a MIRAGE created by Survivor producer Mark Burnett and NBC boss Jeff Zucker,” Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, one of Melania Trump’s former confidants, sniped on Sunday.

Wolkoff shared a clip teasing the 2007 season of theThe Apprentice that featured Melania walking down the steps of a palm tree-lined home carrying newborn Barron. A massive pink headband covers Melania’s hairline, pushing back a voluminous blow-dried ’do.

“Daddy’s coming home,” Melania says as she walks over to greet her husband, who rolls up in a convertible. “Hi honey,” Trump says in a muted tone. He then whips off his sunglasses before leaning over to kiss his wife and their baby. The clip then cuts to Trump promoting the new season of his hit show.

“Many may think ‘DADDY’S HOME’ is a Father’s Day video. Nope!” Wolkoff, the author of the tell-all book Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady, wrote.

“Millions of Americans watched the Apprentice,” she contined. “Donald was a household name. He needed a woman who looked & played the part & let him be the star. Marrying Melania & making her a Vogue Cover model — legitimized them both.”

She continued, “What catapulted Donald J. Trump ‘businessman’ and his ‘supermodel’ wife to the White House was a MIRAGE created by Survivor producer Mark Burnett and NBC boss Jeff Zucker.”

One day after the clip resurfaced, Politico reported that Melania would host a July fundraiser for the Log Cabin Republicans in Trump Tower in New York.

She hosted another fundraiser for the organization in April. Both events come after the model has largely failed to appear on the campaign trail with her husband, as critics have been left wondering: “Where’s Melania?”

The former first lady was absent during her husband’s blockbuster criminal trial in New York, where the court heard about his alleged affairs with a former Playboy model and porn star while he was married to Melania. Behind closed doors, she’s reportedly called the trial a “a disgrace.”

In salacious testimony, porn star Stormy Daniels claimed that Trump told her that he and his wife didn’t sleep in the same bed. Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen also told the court that when Trump learned that Daniels was preparing to go public with the news of their affair: “He wasn’t thinking about Melania, this was all about the campaign.”

Cohen also testified that his boss told him that it was Melania’s idea to dismiss the explosive Access Hollywood tape as “locker room talk.”

Earlier this month, Dr. Phil asked Trump in an interview how Melania was doing after the historic guilty verdict. “I think good,” he replied. “But I don’t think it’s an easy thing for her, and I think if it wasn’t good, she wouldn’t want to tell me about it, to be honest.”

Trump added: “I have a wonderful wife — it’s not easy for her to read about this stuff, that’s fake — fake stuff.”

The Independent has emailed a Trump campaign spokesperson for comment.