When Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former friend and staffer for Melania Trump, wrote her tell-all book about her relationship with the former first lady, we learned that Melania is a private person who prefers to keep to herself.

So it is not surprising that she is keeping quiet at Mar-a-Lago, rather than appearing alongside him during his criminal hearing in Manhattan. She was also absent when he gave a speech at the couple’s residence later that evening, according to RadarOnline.

Now people are criticizing her for not appearing by the former president’s side and that has led Wolkoff to speak out. The two women are, after all, formerly best friends and if anyone knows Melania well, it would be her.

In an interview with Page Six, she noted that “Melania lives in an ivory tower of denial.” As for her vanishing act when Trump spoke at Mar-a-Lago, Wolkoff noted this is typical for the former first lady.

“I never expected to see her there. Her silence is deliberate, it is her weapon of choice and her protective armor,” she said. “Of course, she knows about Donald’s affairs, she knows everything. But her silence is her dignity.”

“I don’t think Melania is humiliated by his affairs — but she is angry,” Wolkoff added.

Her anger is relatable, I think. This nasty business is being played out in front of the entire world, all because her husband thought he could lie his way out of a situation that would hurt most wives.

On the other hand, however, she’s well aware that her wayward husband is her meal ticket, so there’s that. And Wolkoff added:

“Still she isn’t leaving him. This is a transactional marriage, she knew what she was getting into when she married Donald. Her means of survival is to just act like it never happened.”

Privately, Melania says people are just jealous, and she hoped the Stormy Daniels scandal would be swept under the carpet,” she said.

The former first lady has survival instincts and Wolkoff understands this well.

“Her way of coping is to never let her feelings show or affect her. I predict we will see her back at his side at the next social event at Mar-a-Lago,” she said, adding that Melania will likely keep avoiding the media.

“Melania believes she doesn’t have to answer or explain herself to anyone, so she’s not going to put herself in that position.”

She and her disgraced ex-president husband have been “living separate lives” for the past couple of months, with one source noting “the former president and Melania have a very unique arrangement.”

Donald Trump prefers to host elaborate dinners for his fellow Republicans and to keep pursuing his career and agenda,” the source said.

I’m sure he’s using it as a way to distract himself from the 34-count indictment relating to the hush money scandal and many of his other legal woes.

Wolkoff’s memoir Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady was released on September 1, 2020, and it became an instant New York Times bestseller.