The man female voters loathe needs his womenfolk's help, says Celia Walden.

The person who came up with the expression 'the weaker sex' was either very naive or had to be kidding," wrote Donald Trump in his 1997 opus, Trump: The Art of the Comeback.Of course, then he went and ruined it all by adding: "I have seen women manipulate men with just a twitch of their eye - or perhaps another body part."But back then he had no idea that two decades later his fate would rest in the hands of that very same twitching breed.Even when it was made clear to him that, as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, he might need to woo the electoral swathe that makes up 51% of the US population, Trump seemed to struggle to understand that branding a host of famous women "dumb", "unattractive" and "bimbos" who were probably menstruating wasn't going to do it for him.And thereby he solidified what has become known as "Trump's woman problem".How serious is that problem less than four months before the election? A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 77% of women had an unfavourable impression of Trump - including 65% who saw him in a "strongly unfavourable" light - while another poll had him trailing Hillary Clinton by 24 points among female voters.He may have repeatedly lambasted Clinton for playing hers, but even Trump could see that it was time to whip out his "woman card" - and at this week's Republican national convention in Cleveland, Ohio, he wheeled out the big guns.But who are the women who will stand not so much behind this man as alongside him?Ivana Trump: the first wifeAny woman who will tell people that her former husband (of 14 years) used to keep a book of Hitler's speeches by his bed could be considered a liability. But suing her for violating a gag order might just be one of the most ludicrous things Trump has ever done.Why? Because everything that comes out of the sequin-tastic former department store model's mouth is gold - think Marilyn Monroe crossed with Dorothy Parker.The 67-year-old also pretty much created Trump as he is now (even attempting to trademark "The Donald" in 1999) - and had the good grace to pass her smartness, sass and humour down to her three children.Trump Card rating: 8/10story_article_right1Marla Maples: the second wifeMarla, Trump's wife of six years, might be considered an "asset" that needs strategic and contained deployment.Not that there's any bad blood: in fact, just three years ago she said she still loved him - and her former stepchildren too. The 52-year-old has a daughter, Tiffany, with Trump.Trump Card rating: 4/10Ivanka Trump: the daughter-in-chief This 34-year-old mother-of-three (an executive vice-president at the Trump Organisation and owner of a fashion brand that targets working women) is so bright, capable and poised that she really ought to be running for president herself."Yeah, she's really something," Trump has admitted of his daughter. "And what a beauty, that one. If I weren't happily married and, ya know, her father ..."Trump Card rating: 11/10Melania Trump: current wifeUntil she was handed a speech to read on the first day of the convention that bore embarrassing similarities to Michelle Obama's 2008 convention speech, Melania was seen as one of his best cheerleaders. Young-ish(46), beautiful and adamant that the man she has been married to for 11 years is "not Hitler", the Slovenian Spitfire is most crucially the feline face of apolitical immigration: a woman who was smart enough to play by the rules from the moment she touched down in the US nearly 30 years ago and would (arguably) be America's first immigrant first lady.Although, of course, had Trump been US president prior to Melania's arrival, the two would probably never have met. "The joke around Capitol Hill is that he never once considered building a wall around his trousers," says US political commentator Stephen Fisher.Trump Card rating: 6/10story_article_right2Tiffany Trump: the who-knew? daughter "The Trump daughter no one is talking about" first came out of her shell in November last year, when she joined her half-siblings for a family interview with Barbara Walters and declared her father the best man for president because he was "true to himself".Since then, the 22-year-old model - who was raised by her mother, Marla, in California - has switched coasts to attend her father's alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, completed an internship at US Vogue and been seen mingling on the sidelines of Republican presidential debates.As part of a group of socialites known as "The Rich Kids of Instagram" - where she has about 180000 followers - there's a wild card/ Bristol Palin-style risk there, but she might be a useful piece of artillery when it comes to the youth vote.Trump Card rating: as yet unknownHope Hicks - Trump's campaign press secretary Shes's 27, a former model and spends her days both responding to the tidal waves of media requests and preventing the boss from career-ending tweeting.One only hopes she keeps a healthy supply of Xanax in her desk drawer.But having previously worked with Ivanka on her fashion line (and as the daughter of a top PR executive), Hicks seems to be able to handle whatever The Donald throws at her, and if she plays her cards right that might just be the job of White House press secretary.Trump Card rating: 9/10 - ©The Daily Telegraph, London..