US First Lady Melania Trump has hit back at a television host’s claims she is "unhappy in her marriage”.
Acting on her "gut instinct”, Mika Brzezinski from MSNBC’s Morning Joe program said she believed Mrs Trump was only continuing her duties as first lady for the sake of her 11-year-old son, Barron.
"I know Melania,” Brzezinski told InStyle magazine on Friday, amid her own bitter feud with the US president.
"I haven’t talked to her in months, but if my gut is right, I don’t think she’s going to put up with it much longer.
"I know nothing. That’s just my instinct and I go with my gut and my gut’s always right.”
Mrs Trump responded in a short statement, denying she had a relationship with Brzezinski.
"It is sad when people try to further their own agenda by commenting on me and my family, especially when they don’t know me,” the statement read.
The claims feed into an escalating feud between the president and the American presenter.
Mr Trump took to Twitter this morning to fire off more insults at Brzezinski and her co-host, Joe Scarborough.
"Crazy Joe Scarborough and dumb as a rock Mika are not bad people, but their low rated show is dominated by their NBC bosses. Too bad!,” he wrote.
Hours after the tweet, he defended his often-criticised use of social media with three posts, slamming the media in the process.
The tirade came after Mr Trump on Thursday first called the pair ""low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe", saying Brezinski was "bleeding badly from a face-lift”.
His crude drew bipartisan howls of outrage and left fellow Republicans in dismay.
The TV hosts responded with an opinion piece in the Washington Post titled "Donald Trump is not well", questioning his "unmoored behaviour" and fitness to serve.
On the same day, Brezinski spoke with Instyle magazine.
"I'm just telling you, Melania's got the worst job in the country and I don't think she wants do it a lot longer," Brzezinski said.
"I think she will do it for as long as she has to for her son, and that’s it.”
