- Can you picture yourself the first lady?
- Yes, I would be very traditional, like Jackie Kennedy.
- [Logan] That's Melania Trump in 1999.
She's now America's first lady
and Donald Trump's third wife, that we know of.
I'm comedian Logan Guntzelman,
and I'm here to tell you all about our first lady.
Melanija Knavs was born in Novo Mesto, Slovenia in 1970,
making her the only first lady in nearly 200 years
to be born outside of the U.S.
And one of the only immigrants married to someone
who seemingly hates immigrants.
Melania's father, who some have suggested looks
like the Donald, was a member of the communist party
and her mother was a pattern maker for children's clothing.
When Melania eventually became first lady,
she sponsored her parents to successfully emigrate
to America, taking advantage of chain migration,
where a green card holder or legal resident
can sponsor a family member to live in the U.S.
It's a practice Trump very badly wants to end.
- The legislation must end chain migration.
We have to end chain migration.
- [Logan] Thanks to chain migration,
the whole family can discuss this topic
together at Thanksgiving now!
Growing up, Melania was always interested
in fashion and the finer things in life.
The New York Times notes, "Melania wrapped her notebooks
"in magazine perfume ads and kept
"her knitted sweaters in purple lockers."
She attended the
Secondary School of Design and Photography
in Ljubljana, where she listened
to a tasteful palette of angst: Metallica and The Cure.
It's unclear if she listened to the song, "Just Like Heaven"
while daydreaming about a spray tanned,
twice married, avid tennis player from New York City.
- And then I moved to Milan and Paris to live there.
And I had successful modeling career.
- [Logan] Melania matriculated
at the University in Slovenia, studying architecture
but ended up dropping out of school,
although her Facebook page claims she graduated.
Later, she finished second place in Jana Magazine's,
Face of the Year contest in 1992.
She changed her name to Melania Knauss
and her modeling career took off.
She moved to New York in 1996
and modeled mostly in print.
As a 25 year-old, she was featured
in a sexually explicit shoot
for a French-men's magazine called, "Max".
The New York Post paints the picture,
"The raciest of the photos shows Melania lying nude
"in a bed as Scandinavian model Emma Eriksson,
"also naked, embraces her from behind,
"just below her breasts, which are fully exposed."
Two years later, she met future Saturday Night Live host
and soon-to-be President of the United States, Donny J.
- We met in New York, 1998.
It was a fashion week.
- [Larry] Were you introduced?
- Well, no.
We were both at the same party and that's how we met.
He came to me-- - Like her right away?
- I went crazy.
I said, "I was actually supposed to meet somebody else".
- [Logan] According to The New Yorker,
the two broke up briefly in 2000,
when Trump was considering a run for president.
But in 2004, Trump proposed to Melania
with a $1.5 million ring at the Met Gala.
- What was it that you saw in Donald when you met him?
Or fell in love with him.
- His mind, amazing mind.
- [Logan] Ahhh yes, his amazing mind.
While seemingly falling head over heels
for the reality star, in 2005, she appeared
in this insurance commercial.
- Aflac!
- [Logan] The same year, she married Trump
in Palm Beach, Florida at Mar-A-Lago.
In attendance were Trump's closest friends,
like Trump's soon to be 2016 Democrat presidential opponent
Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill, Billy Joel,
and the face of the Ukraine scandal
and an ostensible enemy of Melania, Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
- I never talk to Mr. Giuliani.
- [Logan] A year after the wedding,
Melania gave birth to her son, Barron,
who Trump admitted he wouldn't take care of or even see.
- Now I know Melania.
I'm not gonna be doing the diapers.
I'm not going to be making the food.
I may never even see the kids, frankly.
- [Interviewer] No you--
- [Logan] During her husband's presidential run,
Melania made a speech at the Republican National Convention
in 2016, which was, in-part, plagiarized
from Michelle Obama's 2008 DNC speech.
A CNN side by side shows the similarities.
- You work hard for what you want in life.
That your word is your bond.
That you do what you say you're gonna do.
- You work hard for what you want in life.
That your word is your bond.
And you do what you say and keep your promise.
- [Logan] Melania claimed she wrote the speech,
quote, with as little help as possible, unquote.
After her husband won the presidency, Melania,
as first lady, has championed the fight
against cyber bullying amongst children.
It's one of her three pillars in her "Be Best" campaign.
Which is curious considering her husband's Twitter habit.
For instance, after Time magazine recently announced
16 year old international climate activist, Greta Thunberg,
as their person of the year, trump tweeted:
"So ridiculous.
"Greta must work on her Anger Management problem,
"then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend!
"Chill Greta, Chill!"
Also, Trump is a fan of the classic bully move
of using ad hominem attacks:
"While @BetteMidler is an extremely unattractive woman,
"I refuse to say that because I always insist
"on being politically correct."
- [Logan] But at least he can dish it out
just as hard as he can take it.
"I have never seen a thin person drinking Diet Coke."
- Social media can be both positively
and negatively effect on our children.
- [Logan] The booklet for Melania's, "Be Best" initiative
was criticized for plagiarizing an Obama-era booklet.
Twitter users noted the similarities,
all except for the intro.
It seems as long as Melania continues to plagiarize,
Obama era policy might actually stay in-tact.
But perhaps Melania should've taken her own advice
on being best when visiting migrant children
on the Texas-Mexico border, one of the epicenters
of Trump's family separation policy.
On a visit to a child detention center,
Melania wore a jacket that read,
"I don't really care, do u?"
- I could say I'm the most bullied person on the world.
- [Logan] She later claimed it was in response
to how she is portrayed in the media.
But she largely hasn't been covered all that much.
Except for broad reporting on her blood red Christmas trees.
She's been one of the most enigmatic first ladies
in one of the least enigmatic administrations.
There have been, however, extensive amounts of reporting
on Melania's relationship with her husband.
Some say she's being held hostage,
a prisoner in her own home.
Others say she's complicit in his acts
and estranged from the president,
secretly mounting a coup.
And some say the couple is perfectly fine.
It's unclear where she falls
in this love triangle encompassing herself,
her husband's ego, and her husband.
But maybe we're all overthinking it.
And maybe, just maybe, she just doesn't care.
(singing in foreign language)