The Untold Truth Of Melania Trump
The ever-elusive former first lady Melania Trump has captivated the public's interest for decades, ever since she became entwined with Donald Trump. The Slovenian beauty wears many hats, aside from the impeccable ones she owns in her vast fashion collection. Melania has not only graced the covers of fashion magazines for decades, but she has also been a successful businesswoman, mother, and ambassador for several non-profit organizations.
As it goes with any celebrity in the spotlight, she's faced incredible scrutiny and criticism for her role as former first lady and her connection to her controversial husband. Being an immigrant herself, she accomplished what many consider to be the American dream by building a new life in the United States. Still, she's faced immense backlash from the public's perception of Donald's actions as well as her own (or lack thereof) as a former first lady. She's not exactly known for her warm and exuberant nature, which has set her apart from many of the women who have taken the role before her.
Despite the many opinions surrounding Melania, there's a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to the controversial fashionista. After growing up in a communist country very different from the U.S., she paved the way for herself with not much to her name but a dream. With a potential second term for her husband on the table, all eyes will be on Melania as she stands by her husband's side in the 2024 election. If you think you know her, think again. We're bringing you the untold truth of Melania Trump.
She grew up in Slovenia
Melania Trump had a radically different childhood from the first ladies that preceded her. The businesswoman grew up in a humble home in a then-Communist-ruled Slovenia, formerly known as Yugoslavia. Melania's childhood was anything but luxurious, with her father working as a car dealer and her mother employed in the textile industry. While she's known for her lavish lifestyle nowadays, she grew up in apartment housing with a view of the smoking factory chimneys beyond the Sava River, according to the Associated Press (via People).
But Trump would ultimately outgrow her charming small town, a scenic area with just around 5,000 people. "I think I can say Sevnica was too small for her," said Mirjana Jelancic, Melania's childhood friend. "Even as a child, she dreamed of moving." So, she did, after a short stint at the University of Ljubljana, studying design and architecture. Jelanic described her former friend's excellent work ethic, describing her to the AP as "an excellent student, very organized, disciplined, with very decent manners."
Trump eventually decided to pursue a different career path after dropping out of school. According to the BBC, she first entered the United States on a tourist visa before obtaining a working visa designated for skilled immigrants. She dropped her surname Knavs and Anglicized it to her now-maiden name of Knauss and embarked on a bustling modeling career.
She was a successful international model
Melania Trump began climbing the ladder in the modeling world at just 16 years old. Thanks to her mother, she feels like the career was something destined for her from a young age. "I always loved fashion. My mother was a fashion designer so it was always in my blood," she told People.
Per Today, she was discovered by famous fashion designer Stane Jerko, which propelled her career in the right direction. "It was January 1987 when I went home just before the end of the fashion show," Jerko told the publication of his first encounter with Trump. "On the stairs of the Festival Hall, I saw a girl that immediately caught my eye. There stood a tall, slender, and attractive long-haired girl with distinct eyes."
Jerko invited Trump to his studio for a test shoot, which resulted in promising photos to be sent out to international agencies. The Slovenian beauty gained notoriety working in Milan and Paris, gracing the covers of Harper's Bazaar in Bulgaria and Vanity Fair in Italy. She then set her sights on New York City, moving to the fashion capital in 1996. She's also graced the cover of British GQ, baring it all in a nude shoot that has since been viewed as controversial after she stepped foot in the White House. Despite the criticism, Trump likened the shoot to "Nothing more than you see every year in Sports Illustrated" when asked about the photographs in an interview with Barbara Walters in 2015.
Melania Trump met her future husband during New York Fashion Week
Melania Trump got a whole lot more than she bargained for after attending a New York City Fashion Week party and stumbling into her future husband. She and Donald were first introduced in Manhattan in 1998, but the former president was with another woman at the time. "He wanted my number, but he was with a date, so, of course I didn't give it to him," the former first lady said of their first encounter in an interview with Harper's Bazaar. Instead, Melania got clever about the "Apprentice" star, who is 24 years older than her. "I said, 'I am not giving you my number; you give me yours, and I will call you.'"
Melania ended up dialing Donald's line a few days later, changing the course of her future with a single phone call. "I was struck by his energy," she recalled. "He has an amazing sense of vitality." Donald came with a lot of baggage, however, with four kids of his own and a divorce from his second wife, Marla Maples, that had yet to be finalized. Nonetheless, the two quickly began dating, and Melania's star power began to rise as a New York City socialite.
The two cemented the next step in their relationship in 2004 when Donald proposed to his bride-to-be with a 1.5-million-dollar engagement ring. The businessman popped the question at the Met Gala, and the rest is history.
Melania Trump had an incredibly lavish wedding
Melania Trump's wedding was the pinnacle of opulence. The former model tied the knot with Donald in a stunning ceremony held at the Episcopalian Church, Bethesda-by-the-Sea. 450 esteemed guests attended the big day, including several A-list names like Elton John, Heidi Klum, Anna Wintour, and Shaquille O'Neal. Hillary and Bill Clinton also attended the nuptials, which proved to be a damning move for the politician when she ran against Donald in 2016.
Ivanka Trump read a bible passage during the ceremony, followed up by music from opera star Camellia Johnson, at the bride's request. Melania dazzled down the aisle in a Christian Dior gown made of 300 feet of white satin accompanied by a glamorous sixteen-foot veil. The exquisite dress cost around $100,000 and required over 500 hours of embroidery work before the big day.
The ceremony was followed up by a lavish reception at the famous Grand Ballroom located at the Mar-O-Lago Beach Club in South Florida. Melania shipped over 10,000 flowers from New York to decorate the space, illuminating her classic white theme with assortments of hydrangeas, roses, orchids, and gardenias. The menu that day included a three-course meal, including shrimp salad, beef tenderloin, and Grand Marnier chocolate truffle cakes. Billy Joel and Elton John gave performances later in the night, as well as a full orchestra of white-tuxedo-clad musicians to commemorate the big day. The grand total for a day like this? According to reports, the nuptials were rumored to have cost a whopping $2.5 million.
She's an entrepreneur
Donald Trump may know a thing or two about the "Art of the Deal," but he's not the only one with business skills in the family. Melania Trump launched her own company in 2013 when she introduced her line of caviar-infused skincare products. Her brand, Melania Caviar Complexe C6, promised customers a rich variety of vitamins and high-acting ingredients like Caviar Complexe C6™ and Lipid Matrix Receptor™ Technology to help with anti-aging.
Melania's skincare line vanished, however, a few years later amid controversy. At the time, her website bio wrote that she had received an architecture degree from Slovenia, which was later proven to be false. She cleared up the confusion in 2016, revealing she had moved on to more presidential projects. "The website in question was created in 2012 and has been removed because it does not accurately reflect my current business and professional interests," she tweeted at the time.
Skincare wasn't the only industry Melania dabbled in, however, as the entrepreneur also launched a jewelry line in 2010. Her brand, "Melania Timepieces & Fashion Jewelry," was sold on QVC as well as the home shopping network, according to CBS. The line fared well with customers and sold out on the home shopping network within 45 minutes of the launch. While her skincare products have since disappeared, you can still find pieces from her jewelry line floating around the Internet. A quick eBay search results in an array of the now defunct products, and average in the $20-50 range.
Melania Trump was the second foreign-born First Lady
Melania Trump's ascension to the White House as first lady in 2016 wasn't without its usual fanfare. The former model did stand out, however, thanks to her Slovenian birthplace. She took the title of being the second foreign-born first lady to assume the role since London-born Louisa Adams, the wife of former president John Quincy Adams, according to Time.
She is, however, the only first lady to have ever become a naturalized United States citizen. Trump gained her citizenship in 2006, and her parents were granted theirs years later in 2018 after the couple's green card application was approved.
Trump has since spoken out on her journey to become a citizen at the National Archives Naturalization Ceremony in 2023, recounting her difficult immigration journey. "The pathway to citizenship is arduous," she said at the time (via CNN), adding, "My life turned into [a] labyrinth of organizing paperwork." She went on to add (per USA Today), "For me, reaching the milestone of American citizenship marked the sunrise of certainty. At that exact moment, I forever discarded the layer of burden connected with whether I would be able to live in the United States."
In addition to being one of the only foreign-born first ladies, Trump is incredibly well-versed in many languages. She separates herself from the previous women of the White House with her ability to speak more languages than any other first lady. The businesswoman claims that she can speak English, French, German, Italian, and Serbian, as well as her native Slovenian.
She became the first Catholic first lady since Jackie Kennedy
Melania Trump marked several firsts when she took her role as first lady in 2016. The Slovenian beauty was the first Catholic first lady since Jackie Kennedy took the role in 1961. Where Trump grew up, the Roman Catholic Church is by far the most followed religion, with 71% of Slovenians practicing Catholicism.
Trump takes her religion seriously, and she even took an opportunity to practice her religion on her first-ever trip abroad as first lady alongside Donald in 2017. Upon visiting the Vatican, the former model brought along a pair of rosary beads to be blessed by Pope Francis, as per CNN. Rosary beads are a staple in the Catholic religion, with many of its followers using them as a praying tool, moving their fingers up and down each bead and keeping count of the prayers they say. The former first lady presented the pontiff with her rosary beads upon meeting him to ask for a blessing. The act lasted only seconds but remains a huge honor in the Catholic faith.
While Melania is a practicing Catholic, she blends her values with those of her husband, who is Presbyterian. Their son Barron was baptized at the same church where the pair exchanged vows, the Bethesda-by-the-Sea Episcopal church in South Florida. Barron also studied at the prestigious St. Andrews Episcopal School, which is about a 30-minute drive from the White House.
She started a campaign against cyberbullying
Every first lady is expected to take on a specific cause during their slotted four-year tenure in America's House, and Melania Trump was no different. Just as Michelle Obama started her "Let's Move" campaign that focused on healthier school lunches, and Nancy Reagan helped combat drugs with her "Just Say No" initiative, Trump too had a cause of her own.
The Slovenian native aimed to combat cyberbullying throughout her time in the White House, launching her campaign "Be Best" to help better the mental health of kids worldwide. "[Social media can] be used in many positive ways, but can also be destructive and harmful when used incorrectly," Trump said at a cyberbullying summit in 2018 (per CNN). "This is why Be Best chooses to focus on the importance of teaching our next generation how to conduct themselves safely and in a positive manner in an online setting."
Trump visited schools across the United States to implement character-building in students as a part of the campaign, and she also reinforced her message at the National Parent Teacher Association in Virginia in 2020. "As parents, adults, educators, and community leaders, it is our responsibility to ensure our children are being taught the importance of positive ways to interact with each other and prepare them for attacks and negativity they could receive in this new digital age," she said during her speech (per People).
She hasn't always been Donald Trump's biggest supporter
Melania Trump may stick by her husband's side through thick and thin, but that doesn't also mean she's supported the former president's policies and decisions. In a visit to Egypt, the former first lady responded to a reporter's question about whether she feels she's "poking" at her husband by visiting the continent. At the time, Donald had previously come under fire for calling certain African countries "s***holes."
"I don't always agree what he tweets. I tell him that," Melania remarked. "I give him my honest opinion and honest advice. And sometimes he listens and sometimes he doesn't. But, I have my own voice and my opinions and it's very important for me that I express what I feel," she said (per Sky News).
Melania made headlines in 2018 when news broke that she was opposed to her husband's controversial immigration policies. Her former Chief of Staff, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, released audio recordings that showcased just how adverse Melania was over Donald allowing children to be separated from their families after illegally crossing the Southern Border. As reported in a segment of "Anderson Cooper 360," Melania asked, "Where they were saying anything when Obama did that? I can not go, I was trying get the kid reunited with the mom. I didn't have a chance — needs to go through the process and through the law," she complained. "They say I'm complicit. I'm the same like him, I support him. I don't say enough, I don't do enough where I am," she added.
She sued a newspaper for claiming she worked as an escort
While the pressure was on as Donald Trump attempted to dodge the multiple allegations of misconduct against him during his 2016 election run, the spotlight was just as bright on Melania. The former first lady complained to a court of law because multiple magazine publications referred to the former model as an escort in her previous career.
Suzy magazine first published an article about Melania in 2016, alleging that she previously worked for a fashion agency that also offered an upscale escort service, as per CBS News. The former first lady sued the publication for libel, and the parties settled out of court, awarding Melania an unknown sum of damages. The magazine later issued an apology, stating the article "was understood as if Melania Trump conducted the escort job. We have no proof for that. So we apologize. We had no intention to hurt and offend Mrs. Trump."
The former model also filed two lawsuits that same year against the U.K. newspaper, the Daily Mail, and their online publication, Mail Online, for publishing the same claims. She was awarded damages related to the suits in an amount not disclosed to the public in 2017. Daily Mail followed suit with their apology, writing in their statement, "We accept that these allegations about Mrs. Trump are not true and we retract and withdraw them. We apologize to Mrs. Trump for any distress that our publication caused her."