It seems like a lifetime ago when Republicans felt emboldened to criticize Donald Trump for going too far with his incendiary tweets, but it happened five months into his presidency, when he lashed out at the appearance of MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski after she had undergone cosmetic surgery.

“Morning Joe” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski in 2013.”(Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) (Evan Agostini/Invision/Associated Press Archives)

Trump’s notorious June 2017 tweet, claiming that Brzezinski was “bleeding badly from a face-lift” during a New Year’s Eve visit to Mar-a-Lago, drew condemnation from his fellow Republicans and reignited controversy about his misogynistic attitudes towards women that nearly derailed his candidacy, the New York Times reported at the time. 

Now Brzezinski is opening up about the origin story of Trump’s tweet. In a new interview for the New Abnormal podcast she said she and her husband and MSNBC co-host Joe Scarborough visited the former president and his wife Melania Trump at their Palm Beach, Florida resort on New Year’s Eve 2016, a few days after she had a procedure done to reduce wrinkles under her neck.

Brzezinski told podcast host Molly Jong-Fast that she talked to Melania Trump about the procedure during a private “woman to woman” chat. The conversation, Brzezinski added, took place in Donald and Melania’s bedroom at Mar-a-Lago, about eight weeks after Trump had won the presidency.

“Melania was very curious about (the procedure),” Brzezinski said.

That’s when Trump came up to the women and claimed: “You know Melania’s had no work done. She’s perfect.”

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump stand during the Pledge of Allegiance at a 19th anniversary observance of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pa., Friday, Sept. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) 

When Jong-Fast expressed skepticism that the Slovenian-born former model never had cosmetic surgery, Brzezinski said Trump exclaimed, “She’s very beautiful, and I said (to Melania) you’re very beautiful.”

As background, Brzezinski explained the unusual timing and setting of this exchange. She and Scarborough had once been friendly with Trump when he was the star of the NBC reality TV show “The Apprentice.” They also were initially receptive to his candidacy, but those feelings changed once Trump became the Republican nominee. Brzezinski told Jong-Fast: “He started saying things that were unbelievable.” At one point, Brzezinski added, Scarborough hung up on Trump during an on-air conversation.

Still, the newly elected Trump was eager to continue socializing with Scarborough and Brzezinski as of late 2016. Learning they were in Florida, where Brzezinski said she had just had her surgery, Trump pressed them to come to Mar-a-Lago where “we’re having a fundraiser.”

Brzezinski admitted she was on medication and described herself as being a bit loopy. Perhaps that explains why she felt overly-confident about attending the party so soon after her surgery and when she normally hated going to events. She also said that she and Scarborough hoped to talk to Trump privately and get him to commit to giving them his first TV interview as president.

“Joe, I’ll go, let’s go!” Brzezinski said. She explained she dressed casually in jeans and a black turtleneck, which she felt would hide her surgery, though she added that any evidence of the surgery was “microscopic.”

Entering Mar-a-Lago, Brzezinski said she felt “pretty good” about herself. “By the way, it’s facelift central,” she said. “I walk in there, and I’m nothing compared to this crowd at Mar-a-Lago.”

When they found Donald and Melania Trump amid the crowd, the future first couple invited them to come into their bedroom. There, their son Barron Trump was playing with a girl Trump said was tennis star “Anna Kournikova’s younger sister.”

Brzezinski admitted she was “oversharing” during her chat with Melania, Trump’s third wife. The bedroom visit ended with Brzezinski and Scarborough leaving without getting time alone with Trump to discuss an interview. The one thing Brzezinski noticed before leaving is that both sides of the bed appeared to have been used, possibly “for a nap.”

Over the next five months, the MSNBC hosts grew increasingly critical of the new President Trump. In June 2017 Trump lashed out with a tweet that described Brzezinski as “low I.Q. Crazy Mika,” as well as alleged she was “bleeding” on New Year’s Eve. A photo from that night suggests that Trump’s claims were false.

The New York times said the president’s tweet ended a period of relative silence from him “on the volatile subject of gender.” The White House did not explain what had prompted Trump’s outburst, but a spokesperson said Brzezinski deserved a rebuke because of her show’s harsh stance on Trump.

A “slew” of Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, condemned Trump’s personal attack, with Collins saying it was “so contrary to the way we expect a president to act” and “embarrassing to our country.”

Brzezinski said she learned about the tweet near the end of a show, explaining all she could do was “literally laugh out loud uproariously.” She said she didn’t feel that hurt. But she, like Republicans and world leaders, were aghast that Trump would resort to such a sexist attack.

“I really don’t care about my face being shamed, except as it pertains to how women are treated,” she said.

Brzezinski personally responded by tweeting a photograph of a box of Cheerios with the words “Made for Little Hands,” a reference to a longstanding insult about the size of Trump’s hands. MSNBC said in a statement, “It’s a sad day for America when the president spends his time bullying, lying and spewing petty personal attacks instead of doing his job.”

Looking back at Trump’s attack and the response, Brzezinski said: “I appreciate Republicans coming to my defense. I appreciate world leaders coming to my defense. But you know? I wish they had done that to the insurrection or anything else he’s done.”