Meredith McIver
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Meredith McIver (born 1950/51) is a staff writer for
The Trump Organization The Trump Organization is a Conglomerate (company), group of about 500 business entities of which Donald Trump is the sole or principal owner. Around 250 of these entities use the Trump name. The organization was founded in 1927 by Donald Trum ...
, an author, and a former ballerina. She is credited with
ghostwriting A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often ...
multiple books by
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
and was described in 2007 as an "assistant" to him.


Early life

McIver is originally from
San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...
and moved to New York City at age 14 on a Ford Foundation Scholarship for dance. In New York, McIver trained at
George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...
's
School of American Ballet The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the most renowned ballet school in the United States. School of American Ballet is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New ...
during the summers of 1965 and 1966, and was enrolled full-time in the advanced division courses at the School of American Ballet 1967–70. She later earned an English degree at the University of Utah, graduating with honors in 1976.


Professional dancer

In 1981, McIver appeared on
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
in the revival of '' Can-Can'', a production which closed after five performances.


Trump affiliation

In the 2000s, McIver worked with
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
as both an assistant and as a ghostwriter. She co-authored ''Trump: Think Like a Billionaire'' (2005) and several other books, with Trump.


2007 Trump deposition

In 2007, in a
deposition Deposition may refer to: * Deposition (law), taking testimony outside of court * Deposition (politics), the removal of a person of authority from political power * Deposition (university), a widespread initiation ritual for new students practiced f ...
in a defamation lawsuit he brought against Timothy L. O'Brien, Donald Trump named McIver as the likely author, in two books they wrote together, of overstated claims of his indebtedness in the midst of the 1990s real estate market crash, making his financial comeback appear more significant.


Speech plagiarism controversy

In July 2016, McIver contributed to a speech for
Melania Trump Melania Trump ( ; born Melanija Knavs , Germanized as Melania Knauss ; born April 26, 1970) is a Slovene-American former model and businesswoman who served as First Lady of the United States from 2017 to 2021 as the wife of 45th president Do ...
, which Mrs. Trump read at the
2016 Republican National Convention The 2016 Republican National Convention, in which delegates of the United States Republican Party chose the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, was held July 18–21, 2016, at Quicken L ...
on July 19, 2016. The speech included plagiarized passages from a
Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...
speech. McIver later issued a statement explaining that Melania Trump had shared with her a passage from Obama's 2008 convention speech as an example of her feelings. Due to a misunderstanding, McIver thought the passage expressed Mrs. Trump's own thinking, so she included that passage in the speech. In a statement McIver said the following according to the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
; "Over the phone, she read me some passages from Mrs. Obama’s speech as examples. I wrote them down and later included some of the phrasing in the draft that ultimately became the final speech." The Trump family declined McIver's offer to resign over the incident.


Selected works

* ''Trump: How to Get Rich'' with Donald J. Trump (2004) * ''Trump: Think Like a Billionaire'' with Donald J. Trump (2004) * '' Trump 101: The Way to Success'' with Donald J. Trump (2006) * ''
Why We Want You to Be Rich ''Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men, One Message'' is a non-fiction book about personal finance, co-authored by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki. The book was first published in hardcover format in 2006. The coauthors became familiar with ea ...
'' with Donald J. Trump,
Robert T. Kiyosaki Robert Toru Kiyosaki (born April 8, 1947) is an American entrepreneur, businessman and author. Kiyosaki is the founder of Rich Global LLC and the Rich Dad Company, a private financial education company that provides personal finance and busine ...
, and Sharon L. Lechter (2006) * ''Trump: Never Give Up'' with Donald J. Trump (2008)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McIver, Meredith 1951 births Living people 21st-century American writers 21st-century American women writers American ballerinas Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign Ghostwriters People associated with the 2016 United States presidential election People involved in plagiarism controversies School of American Ballet alumni The Trump Organization employees University of Utah alumni Writers from San Jose, California