RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Melania Trump

EARLY LIFE

Melanija Knavs was born in Novo Mesto, Slovenia (then part of Yugoslavia), on April 26, 1970.[9][10] Her father, Viktor Knavs (b. March 24, 1944), was from the nearby town of Radeče and managed car and motorcycle dealerships for a state-owned vehicle manufacturer.[11][12] Her mother Amalija (née Ulčnik) (b. July 9, 1945) came from the village of Raka and worked as a patternmaker at the children's clothing manufacturer Jutranjka in Sevnica.[13][14] As a child, Melania and other children of workers at the factory participated in fashion shows that featured children's clothing.[15] She has an older sister, Ines, who is an artist and her "longtime confidant",[16][17][18] and an older half-brother—whom she reportedly has never met—from her father's previous relationship.[19][20]

Knavs grew up in a modest apartment in a housing block in Sevnica, in the Lower Sava Valley.[2][21] Her father was in the League of Communists of Slovenia, which espoused a policy of state atheism.[22] As was common, however, he had his daughters secretly baptized as Catholics. When the Trumps met Pope Francis at the Vatican in 2017, Melania brought her rosary and asked the Pope to bless it.[23][24]

When Knavs was a teenager, she moved with her family to a two-story house in Sevnica.[25] As a high-school student, she lived in a high-rise apartment in Ljubljana. She attended the Secondary School of Design and Photography in Ljubljana[26] and studied architecture and design at the University of Ljubljana for one year before she dropped out.[27][28][29]



CAREER

She began modeling at five years old and started doing commercial work at sixteen when she posed for the Slovenian fashion photographer Stane Jerko.[30][31] When she began working as a model, she transcribed the Slovene version of her last name "Knavs" to the German version "Knauss".[32]

At eighteen, she signed with a modeling agency in Milan, Italy.[33] In 1992, she was named runner-up in the Jana Magazine "Look of the Year" contest, held in Ljubljana, which promised its top three contestants an international modeling contract.[9][34]

After attending the University of Ljubljana for one year,[35] she modeled for fashion houses in Paris and Milan, where in 1995 she met Metropolitan Models co-owner Paolo Zampolli, a friend of her future husband Donald Trump, who was on a scouting trip in Europe. Zampolli urged her to travel to the United States, where he said he would like to represent her.[15]

In 1996, Knauss moved to Manhattan.[15][34][33][36] Zampolli arranged for her to share an apartment with photographer Matthew Atanian in Zeckendorf Towers in Union Square.[15] She did 10 paid modeling jobs in the U.S. in the seven weeks before she received legal permission to work in the country.[6]



BUSINESS

In 2010, she launched her own line of jewelry, Melania Timepieces and Jewelry, for sale on QVC. She also marketed a Melania Skin Care Collection, sold in high-end department stores.[37] According to a financial filing in 2016, her businesses brought in between $15,000 and $50,000 in royalties that year.[38] In 2017, the two companies that manufactured her jewelry and skin care products under license said they had terminated their relationship with her.[39] On inauguration day her companies and products were listed in her official White House biography, but they were quickly removed.[40] A White House spokesperson said her companies are no longer active and "the First Lady has no intention of using her position for profit and will not do so."[39]


RELATIONSHIP WITH DONALD TRUMP

Early Relationship

In September 1998, she met real estate mogul Donald Trump at a party that Zampolli hosted at the Times Square nightclub the Kit Kat Club (now the Stephen Sondheim Theatre).[41] Trump and Marla Maples had been separated since May 1997, and he attended the party with Celina Midelfart. When Midelfart went off to use the restroom, Trump approached Knauss and asked for her telephone number. She took his phone number instead, and they subsequently began a relationship and frequented the 1990s Greenwich Village hot spot Moomba.[15][2][42] This account is disputed by author Nina Burleigh, who states Melania actually met Donald in 1996 while he was still married to Maples, and started referring to him as her "boyfriend" during that time.[43]

Melania continued her modeling career[15] with her American magazine cover shoots, including In Style Weddings,[44] New York Magazine, Avenue,[45] Philadelphia Style,[46] Vanity Fair,[47] and Vogue.[48] While they were dating, her family relocated to New York, where they lived for most of the year in 2015.[49]

In 1999, the couple gained attention after an interview on The Howard Stern Show. When she was asked by The New York Times what her role would be if Donald Trump were to become President, she replied: "I would be very traditional, like Betty Ford or Jackie Kennedy."[12][50]

In 2000, she appeared with Donald Trump while he campaigned for that year's Reform Party presidential nomination; she also modeled for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.[51][49]


Marriage

Knauss and Donald Trump became engaged in 2004. On January 22, 2005, they married in an Anglican service at The Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida, followed by a reception in the ballroom at her husband's Mar-a-Lago estate.[52][53] The marriage was her first and his third. The event was attended by celebrities such as Katie Couric, Matt Lauer, Rudy Giuliani, Heidi Klum, Star Jones, P. Diddy, Shaquille O'Neal, Barbara Walters, Conrad Black, Regis Philbin, Simon Cowell, Kelly Ripa, then-Senator Hillary Clinton, and former president Bill Clinton.[53][54] At the reception, Billy Joel serenaded the crowd with "Just the Way You Are" and supplied new lyrics to the tune of "The Lady Is a Tramp".[53] The Trumps' wedding ceremony and reception were widely covered by the media.[36] She wore a $200,000 dress made by John Galliano of the house of Christian Dior.[53]

On March 20, 2006, she gave birth to their son, Barron William Trump.[55] She suggested his middle name, while her husband suggested his first name.[56]



2016 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

In November 2015, she was asked about her husband's presidential campaign and replied: "I encouraged him because I know what he will do and what he can do for America. He loves the American people and he wants to help them."[57] She played a relatively small role in her husband's campaign, which is atypical of spouses of presidential candidates.[58][59][60]

In 2016, she told CNN her focus as First Lady would be to help women and children. She also said she would combat cyberbullying, especially among children.[61]

In July 2016, her official website was redirected to trump.com. On Twitter, she stated that her site was outdated and did not "accurately reflect [her] current business and professional interests".[62]