19 Things You Didn’t Know About Melania Trump!
19.
Humble Beginnings Melania Trump was born Melania Knavs on April
26th, 1970, in Novo Mesto in southeastern Slovenia.
Though she is now known for her fashion prowess, few know that this obsession started young.
Melania's mother, who was born in the small village of Raka, was a pattern maker for a
children's clothing manufacturer called Jutranja in Sevnica.
Her mother's work with clothing as well as Melania's interest in modeling help forge
her into the fashionista we know her as today.
18.
Studying Abroad After completing high school, Melania attended
college in Slovenia where she studied design and architecture at the University of Ljubljana
. Her frequent moving around has also resulted in Melania reportedly speaking six languages,
including English, French, Italian, German, Serbo-Croatian and Slovene, the last of which
is her native tongue.
Interestingly enough, her status as an American Citizen born in Slovenia makes her the first
First Lady to have been born in a Communist country - an ideology which classically has
opposed Western politics.
17.
A Model Child Melania apparently started her modeling career
at just 5 years old, but started becoming serious about it when she first appeared in
commercials at the age of 16.
When she turned 18, she signed with an Italian modeling agency in Milan.
In 1992 she was named as the runner-up in Jana Magazine's "Look of the Year" contest,
which netted her a potential international modeling contract.
She would go on to be featured as a model in the 2000 edition of Sports Illustrated's
famed Swimsuit Edition, as well as to be associated with the modeling agencies Irene Marie Management
Group and Trump Model Management.
16.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
It has recently come to light that Melania's father, Victor Knavs, may have fathered another
son before his relationship with Melania's mother began.
Apparently a court battle ended in Knavs being required to pay child support for a Denis
Cigelnjak , despite Knavs originally denying being the boy's father.
Cigelnjak, who is now himself 50 years old, still lives in Slovenia and Melania has said
that she's never met her alleged half brother.
No word has surfaced from Cigelnjak to either confirm or deny the allegations that he is
in fact the long lost brother of Melania Trump.
15.
Undocumented Claims In 1996 Melania relocated to New York City
to further her modeling career, and was contracted almost immediately with the help of Italian
businessman Paolo Zampolli.
Although she entered the United States under a work visa, it has been rumored that during
this time Melania was paid more than $20,000 for 10 modeling jobs before she had legal
permission to work in the United States.
This has been denied however, with people representing Melania expounding that these
claims are unsubstantiated and contradict the legal record.
Since there have to date been no conclusive documents proving the claims against Melania
in this regard, it's likely this was merely an attempt to contrast her husband's stance
on illegal immigration.
14.
A Change of Name Melania first met Donald Trump in September
1998 while attending a Fashion Week party in New York City.
Although it is widely speculated that Trump was still married to Marla Maples at the time,
the two had been separated since 1997 and their divorce actually became final in June
of 1998, months before Trump originally met Melania.
Their romance was swift, but they didn't officially become engaged until 2004.
Their marriage took place on January 22nd, 2005 in Palm Beach, Florida.
It's worth noting that Former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, who was a Senator
at the time, both attended the Trump wedding.
13.
Traditionally Supportive During their courtship, Melania helped Donald
Trump campaign in his initial bid for the Presidency, which took place in the year 2000.
Trump was campaigning under the Reform Party, a center-right third party which aimed to
challenge conventional political ideas.
During this time Melania was asked what kind of First Lady she would be if Donald Trump
won, and she responded by saying that she would be a "very traditional (First Lady),
like Betty Ford or Jackie Kennedy", and that she would support her husband.
This was exemplified during the inauguration, which she attended in a blue dress which was
immediately compared to outfits the notoriously fashionable Jackie Kennedy wore during her
days as the First Lady.
12.
Ducking Popularity In 2005, Melania appeared in what has gone
on to be one of her most famous - and infamous - modeling jobs.
She starred in a commercial for the insurance company Aflac, alongside the much loved (and
much hated) Gilbert Gottfried and his abrasively voiced duck character.
She claimed during an interview that her purpose in the commercial was to "give Aflac some
sex appeal".
Since the 2016 election, the commercial has gone on to be something of a viral sensation
online, accruing millions of views on video streaming websites like YouTube and Facebook.
11.
Mother Melania Her marriage with Donald Trump has resulted
in just one child - Barron Trump was born March 20th, 2006 and is now 10 years old.
Although she takes great pride and responsibility in raising Barron - they do not use a maid
for their son, despite having plenty of wealth with which to do so - she is far from a clingy
mother.
Barron Trump has his own floor in the Manhattan Trump Penthouse.
Melania has said that this stage of a child's life is crucial to have a parent there for
him, and with her husband's new responsibilities, she intends to continue raising Barron.
10.
Official Business As is common and expected when dealing with
anyone who bears the Trump name, Melania has become something of a business mogul in her
own right.
To date, she has launched her own Jewelry collection (in 2010) and her own line of skin
care products (in 2013).
With these businesses and the aide of the Trump name, along with her profitable modeling
career, Melania has amassed a personal net worth of more than $11 million to date.
It's unclear what her involvement in her businesses will be going forward, since she could potentially
create a conflict of interest by promoting products as the First Lady of the United States,
a position which could be seen as giving her an unfair advantage.
9.
Powerful Kindness When she isn't busy with her duties as First
Lady, modeling for high fashion, running her own successful businesses, Melania Trump is
well known for her charitable nature and desire to help those in need.
She currently supports several charitable organizations, including the Breast Cancer
Research Foundation, the Police Athletic League, and the American Red Cross, among others.
In 2008, Melania was asked to participate in in the Fifth Annual Love Our Children Day
and the beginning of National Child Abuse Prevention Month by ringing the closing bell
at NASDAQ.
8.
Opulence Obsession In addition to an interest in clothing and
jewelry design, Melania is also a talented interior decorator.
She is responsible for many of the luxurious and even opulent furniture, art, and color
schemes of the various properties she owns with Donald Trump.
In fact, the famous three-story penthouse the Trumps lived in prior to moving to the
White House was decorated by Melania in conjunction with the aide of Angelo Donghia.
It's well known for being completely decked out in 24 karat gold.
7.
The Underdog Hillary Clinton and Melania Trump share more
in common than just being on opposing sides in the 2016 election and now the title of
First Lady of the United States.
They are apparently both the First Ladies who have ranked the lowest in terms of public
opinion.
Melania Trump so far has an opinion rating of 28 percent, where Hillary Clinton had an
approval rating of just 32 percent.
It's very early to tell how her rating will go, however, so for now we'll just have to
wait and see how she performs in the position of First Lady.
It's also speculated that much of the public's unfavorable opinion of Melania is merely backlash
to her husband's own contrasting and polarizing opinion ratings.
6.
Rooting For The Home Team Melania's home land of Slovenia has apparently
taken great interest in her rise to the right hand of the highest office in the world.
The Prime Minister of Slovenia, Miro Cerar, told the Associated Press that he'd like to
see "...the United States and Russia give some initiative" to Slovenia, and that "...in
this way, Slovenia could become a bridge between the two parties."
While the Russian leader Vladimir Putin rarely makes visits to western nations, he has apparently
visited Slovenia twice, and Russia is in good standing with the tiny nation of just two
million.
5.
Melania Meme Mania As is common in today's internet-driven society,
Melania Trump became the subject of a viral online meme shortly after the Inauguration
Ceremony for her husband Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States.
During the ceremony, Melania was seen with a blank, expressionless look on her face.
When Donald turned toward her, Melania's face lit up in a beaming smile, only to quickly
fade back to expressionless after he turned back around.
The clip was quickly "memeified", appearing everywhere with captions along the lines of
"When you meet your boss in the elevator."
4.
Baring It All Melania's modeling career has even spanned
some nude photo shoots.
This puts her in a unique position as being the first First Lady in United States History
with officially published, paid nude photos available to the public.
Despite many of her husband's opponents claiming that he stands against freedom of speech and
expression, many of these same people have attacked Melania for having published nude
photos, claiming that they are indicative of a poor moral compass.
This may also be due in part to one set of photos featuring Melania posing in a compromising
position with another nude woman, but both she and Trump appear not to be concerned.
3.
Taking Down The Trolls Although Melania is apparently not very highly
rated as far as First Ladies go, at least not yet, she has already scored a major victory.
A story originally run on the website Daily Mail, which is a website somewhat notorious
for running unflattering stories, alleged that Melania Trump had worked as a "high-end
escort" previously in her life.
Melania of course flat out denied the allegation, and responded with a lawsuit against Daily
Mail for defamation of character.
The lawsuit claimed $150 million in damages for Melania, and after refiling the lawsuit,
the opponents settled out of court with an unspecified "substantial sum" being awarded
to Melania.
2.
Causing Kindness Many First Ladies pick a singular issue on
which to focus while their husband serves as President, and Melania Trump is no exception.
She's made it clear that she intends to go to war against a serious issue in our country:
cyberbullying . She's quoted as saying "We need to teach
our youth American values: kindness, honesty, respect, compassion, charity, understanding,
and cooperation."
Though she has not made any formal announcements about how she intends to fight this problem,
her track record in exuding kindness and helping those in need is sure to help her along the
way.
1.
Women Know Best Despite what some people may think, Melania
is open about the fact that she doesn't necessarily agree with everything her husband has said
along the campaign trail, nor in his early days as President of the United States.
During an interview she is quoted as saying "I don't agree with everything he says but,
you know, that is normal.
I'm my own person, I tell him what I think.
I'm standing very strong on the ground on my two feet and I'm my own person.
And I think that's very important in the relationship."
Despite these statements, she's come out in favor of some of President Trump's more divisive
stances, including those on immigration.