Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Melania's former aide and former best friend, Linda Tripped her, recording their conversation without the First Lady's knowledge. Melania was venting about the attacks she fielded over separating mothers and kids at the border, saying, "Give me a f***ing break!"  She went on, "Where they were saying anything when Obama did that?"

The First Lady talked about her trip to the border and how she was thwarted in reuniting a child with the mother ... "I was trying to get the kid reunited with the mom. I didn't have a chance -- needs to go through the process and through the law." She says the press would not cover her efforts, saying, "They would not do the story because they, they, they are against us, because they're the liberal media." And, then she said ... "Yeah, if I [go] to Fox, they will do the story. I don't want to go to Fox."

And, then there's Saint Nick. In the recording, first played on CNN, Melania says, "Where I am, I put, I'm working like my ass off at Christmas stuff that you know, who gives a f*** about Christmas stuff and decoration. But, I need to do it, right?"