Melania Trump | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2017 | |
| First Lady of the United States | |
| Assuming office January 20, 2025 | |
| President | Donald Trump (elect) |
| Succeeding | Jill Biden |
| In role January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Michelle Obama |
| Succeeded by | Jill Biden |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Melanija Knavs April 26, 1970 Novo Mesto, SR Slovenia, Yugoslavia |
| Citizenship |
|
| Spouse | |
| Children | Barron |
| Parents |
|
| Residence(s) | Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Signature |  |
Melania Knauss Trump[a][1] (born Melanija Knavs,[b] April 26, 1970) is a Slovenian and American former model who served as the First Lady of the United States from 2017 to 2021 as the wife of Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States. She is the first naturalized citizen to become first lady, the second foreign-born first lady after Louisa Adams, and the second Catholic first lady after Jacqueline Kennedy. As her husband was re-elected in the 2024 presidential election, Melania is set to return to her role as first lady on January 20, 2025, following her husband's inauguration. She will become the second first lady in history to serve two non consecutive terms after Grover Cleveland's wife Frances Cleveland.
Melanija Knavs was born in Slovenia (then part of Yugoslavia) where she began working as a fashion model at the age of 16. She changed the spelling of her name to Melania Knauss, and she traveled to Paris and Milan to seek modeling work before meeting Paolo Zampolli, who hired her and sponsored her immigration to the United States in 1996. She continued working as a model in Manhattan, where Zampolli introduced her to the real estate developer Donald Trump in 1998. Melania and Donald began dating shortly afterward. He worked to get her more modeling jobs, and she supported him during his 2000 presidential campaign. Melania and Donald Trump married in 2005, and they had a son, Barron Trump, the following year. She dedicated most of her time to Barron during his infancy, spending less time working or accompanying her husband at events. She started her own jewelry brand, Melania, in 2009.
After encouraging Donald to run for president in the 2016 presidential election, Melania only made rare campaign appearances, opting to help Donald strategize over the phone. She received major press coverage during the campaign when erotic photos from her modeling years were uncovered and published, and again when a speech she gave at the 2016 Republican National Convention was found to be plagiarized from a similar speech by Michelle Obama. In the month leading up to the election, she defended her husband following the release of the Access Hollywood tape that had caused a scandal for her husband.
Melania stayed in Manhattan for the first months of her tenure as first lady, allowing Barron to finish school and Melania to renegotiate her prenuptial agreement. Her stepdaughter Ivanka Trump fulfilled some of the first lady's traditional duties. She kept to minimal activity after moving into the White House, often staying in the residence instead of her office in the East Wing, and she held fewer events than previous first ladies. Melania faced several challenges in 2018, including allegations of extramarital affairs by her husband, surgery for kidney disease, and a tour of Africa that was overshadowed by scandals. During her tenure as first lady, Melania prioritized children's issues, launching the Be Best campaign to promote children's welfare and making many visits to children's hospitals. She opposed her husband's family separation policy and convinced him to end the practice. She was a close advisor to her husband. In the final months of her tenure, Melania endorsed her husband's false claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election, and has largely stayed out of public view since leaving the White House.
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