Melania Trump’s Quiet Influence on Donald Trump, According to TMZ Founder

Harvey Levin, founder of TMZ, says Melania Trump has more influence over Donald Trump’s decisions than people may think. On « TMZ Live » on November 5, 2026, he recalled meeting Trump at the White House in 2017, when the president allegedly told him that his wife had persuaded him to delay a controversial immigration order targeting Muslim-majority countries. Levin places the meeting in February, while the White House calendar lists it as March 1, 2017. He said the exchange showed that Melania had the president’s ear at the time.