Melania Trump is a Slovenian-born model and former First Lady of the United States, with an estimated net worth of $50 million. She became widely known as the third wife of Donald Trump; the couple married in 2005, and she served as First Lady during his presidency.
She has appeared on screen occasionally, including a cameo as herself in the 2001 film “Zoolander,” and made recurring appearances on her husband’s NBC reality series “The Apprentice” from 2004 to 2015.
Melania modeled in Paris and Milan before moving to America in 1996 to continue her career in New York City, and she has appeared on the covers of publications such as “Vogue,” “Harper’s Bazaar,” “InStyle,” “Vanity Fair,” and “Glamour.” In 2016 she drew criticism when a speech she delivered at the Republican National Convention was compared to portions of Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic Convention address.
Childhood and Family Background
Born Melanija Knavs—later Germanized to Melania Knauss—on April 26, 1970, she entered the world in Novo Mesto in what was then SR Slovenia. Her mother, Amalija, worked as a patternmaker for a company that produced children’s clothing, while her father, Viktor, was employed as a manager at automobile and motorcycle dealerships.
As a youngster in Sevnica, Melania frequently modeled in shows organized by her mother’s employer, Jutranjka. She was raised alongside her sister, Ines, and has a half-brother she has reportedly never met. Although Viktor belonged to the League of Communists of Slovenia—a party aligned with state atheism—both Melania and Ines were baptized into the Catholic Church.
For her education she attended Ljubljana’s Secondary School of Design and Photography and later enrolled at the University of Ljubljana to study design and architecture, but she left the university after one year.
Professional life
Melania began modeling at age five. By 16 she was working with fashion photographer Stane Jerko and appearing in commercial spots. At 18 she signed with a Milan modeling agency and went on to place second in Jana Magazine’s 1992 “Look of the Year” competition.
In 1995, Trump met Paolo Zampolli, co-owner of Metropolitan Models, who offered to represent her if she would relocate to the United States. She moved to Manhattan the following year and, through Zampolli’s arrangements, lived in a Zeckendorf Towers apartment with photographer Matthew Atanian.
That January, the French men’s magazine Max published sexually explicit photos of Melania with another model. She later appeared on the cover of GQ’s January 2000 issue, photographed wearing only diamond jewelry.
In 2010 she launched a jewelry line on QVC called Melania Timepieces & Jewelry and introduced the Melania Skin Care Collection; by 2017 the manufacturers behind those products had ended their relationships with her. A 2016 financial filing reported that her business ventures earned between $15,000 and $50,000 in royalties that year.
Tenure as First Lady
Melania (also known by the Secret Service code name “Muse”) assumed the role of First Lady on January 20, 2017. She delayed moving into the White House until June 11th so her son could finish the school year at Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School.
While in the White House, she maintained a staff of 11 and was only the second First Lady to be born abroad, following Louisa Adams, who was a London native. Her first official White House appearance came at an International Women’s Day luncheon in March 2017, where she addressed gender equality and recounted aspects of her life as a female immigrant.
One of her signature initiatives was the “Be Best” campaign, aimed primarily at combating online bullying. The effort drew criticism from some observers who pointed to President Trump’s often combative presence on Twitter.
Trump helped plan an April 2018 state dinner honoring French President Emmanuel Macron, and Melania spent the day before the event at the National Gallery of Art with his wife, Brigitte.
In October of that year, she carried out a solo trip to four African countries. Highlights of the tour included bottle-feeding baby elephants, spending a day at a school in Malawi, and visiting an orphanage in Nairobi.
Amid widespread attention to the Trump administration’s handling of illegal immigration and family separations, Melania commented in June 2018: “We need to be a country that follows all laws, but also a country that governs with heart.” She said she supported “successful immigration reform” but objected to the separation aspect of the administration’s “Zero Tolerance” policy.
On June 17, 2018, she visited the Upbring New Hope Children’s Shelter in McAllen, Texas, where 55 immigrant children were housed; there she met with social workers and medical staff and expressed a desire to help reunite the children with their families.
Family and Private Life
Melania first met Donald Trump at a party in 1998, and the two were married on January 22, 2005. For the wedding she wore a $200,000 Christian Dior gown. Their son, Barron, was born on March 20, 2006, and his baptism was held at Bethesda-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, the same church where Melania and Donald exchanged vows.
Melania became a permanent resident of the United States in 2001 and completed naturalization in 2006. In 2018 she was treated for a benign kidney condition and underwent an embolization procedure at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
In February 2017, Trump filed a $150 million lawsuit against the British tabloid “Daily Mail” after it published an article alleging that she had worked as an escort while modeling.
Melania said the story cost her “multimillion dollar business relationships,” though she later narrowed the suit to emphasize emotional distress. The “Daily Mail” retracted the contested statements in April 2017, and the dispute was resolved with a $2.9 million settlement.
Trump Tower Property
In January 2016, Melania purchased a 1-bedroom apartment on the 33rd floor of Trump Tower for $1.5 million. At that time, the Trumps already owned an expansive penthouse covering the 66th, 67th, and 68th floors, and there was speculation that the 1,052-square-foot unit was intended to serve as a library.
