--- description: The First Lady's office called Ivana's quote "attention-seeking and self-serving noise" in a statement. title: Melania Trump Slams Ivana Trump for Calling Herself 'First Lady' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce8c88c966276501/6988e1224ee262162c30f538/gettyimages-532014002-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Melania Trump Slams Ivana Trump for Calling Herself 'First Lady' ## Video: First Lady Melania Trump Speaks about Caring for Children at the United Nations [Watch (HLS stream): First Lady Melania Trump Speaks about Caring for Children at the United Nations](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0Ht98w9Y.m3u8) (1:37)  _Published 2017-09-21. First Lady Melania Trump Speaks about Caring for Children at the United Nations_ by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 9, 2017 6:40 PM CUT  Czechoslovakian businesswoman Ivana Trump attends the De Grisogono Party on the sidelines of the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival, at the Eden Roc hotel in Antibes, near Cannes, southeastern France, on May 17, 2016\. / AFP / JEAN CHRISTOPHE MAGNENET Czechoslovakian businesswoman Ivana Trump attends the De Grisogono Party on the sidelines of the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival, at the Eden Roc hotel in Antibes, near Cannes, southeastern France, on May 17, 2016\. / AFP / JEAN CHRISTOPHE MAGNENETJEAN CHRISTOPHE MAGNENET—AFP/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 9, 2017 6:40 PM CUT The office of First Lady Melania Trump is firing back at the President’s ex-wife Ivana, who called herself the “first lady” in an interview with [_Good Morning America_](http://abcnews.go.com/US/ivana-trump-opens-surprising-facts-life-donald-trump/story?id=50330454 "undefined") on Monday. While promoting her new memoir, “Raising Trump,” the mother to [Trump’s oldest children ](http://time.com/3990496/donald-trump-children/ "undefined")— Ivanka, Donald Jr., and Eric — said that though she can call the White House directly, she chooses not to call too often because “Melania is there and I don’t want to cause any kind of jealousy.” “I’m basically first Trump wife,” she continued. “I’m first lady.” The office of the actual First Lady of the United States didn’t take too kindly to that assertion. In a statement, a spokesperson for the First Lady called Ivana’s interview, “attention-seeking and self-serving noise.” “Mrs. Trump has made the White House a home for Barron and the President. She loves living in Washington, DC and is honored by her role as First Lady of the United States,” the statement from FLOTUS reads. “She plans to use her title and role to help children, not sell books.” It continued, “There is clearly no substance to this statement from an ex, this is unfortunately only attention-seeking and self-serving noise.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4974886/melania-trump-slams-ivana-trump-for-first-lady-comments/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4974886/melania-trump-slams-ivana-trump-for-first-lady-comments/"},"headline":"Melania Trump Slams Ivana Trump for Calling Herself 'First Lady'","datePublished":"2017-10-09T18:40:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:47:17.188Z","description":"The First Lady's office called Ivana's quote \"attention-seeking and self-serving noise\" in a statement.","url":"https://time.com/4974886/melania-trump-slams-ivana-trump-for-first-lady-comments/","keywords":["White House","First Lady","Melania Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce8c88c966276501/6988e1224ee262162c30f538/gettyimages-532014002-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce8c88c966276501/6988e1224ee262162c30f538/gettyimages-532014002-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FRANCE-CANNES-PEOPLE-ENTERTAINMENT","caption":"FRANCE-CANNES-PEOPLE-ENTERTAINMENT","creditText":"JEAN CHRISTOPHE MAGNENET—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4974886/melania-trump-slams-ivana-trump-for-first-lady-comments/","name":"Melania Trump Slams Ivana Trump for Calling Herself 'First Lady'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"First Lady Melania Trump Speaks about Caring for Children at the United Nations","description":"First Lady Melania Trump Speaks about Caring for Children at the United Nations","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/0Ht98w9Y/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-09-21T06:18:34.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0Ht98w9Y.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4974886/melania-trump-slams-ivana-trump-for-first-lady-comments/","duration":"PT1M37S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4974886/melania-trump-slams-ivana-trump-for-first-lady-comments/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```