Now that her husband has been elected to the presidency, Melania Trump is on course to build her own legacy as the First Lady of the United States. Ahead of their inauguration into the White House on 20 January 2017, here are 20 things we bet you didn’t know about Mrs. Trump:
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In 2010, the model partnered with QVC to launch her own line of fashion jewelry and watches, which naturally features a replica of her own 15-carat engagement ring. Naturally.
Well, she does look like her skin is flawless and are you really even rich if you don’t put caviar on your face? Her website claims the caviar used in her cosmetics range is imported from a farm in France.
After a 2015 look into the private lives of the Trumps for an episode of 20/20, Walters told Robin Roberts on Good Morning America, “Because she’s so beautiful, we don’t expect her to be as smart as she is.”
Although her website bio says she graduated with a degree from a university in Slovenia, according to The Huffington Post she actually dropped out after her freshman year. When she was 18, she moved to Milan to pursue her modeling career.
In a rare campaign speech just five days before the election, Melania outlined her vision for what her role would be in the White House if she were to become first lady, saying she would work to combat a culture on social media that has become “too mean and too tough” and which is filled with insults based on “looks and intelligence”.
US Vogue editor, Anna Wintour, was on hand at Melania and Donald Trump’s wedding and afterward featured the bride on the cover of the magazine dressed in her elaborate couture dress, her features mysteriously shrouded by a veil, her hand adorned with a 13-carat emerald-cut diamond engagement ring.
Melania’s father, Victor Knavs, who she describes as traditional and hardworking, fathered a secret son before marrying the model’s mother. Melania initially said the reports were false but later, confronted with court documents, claimed she had misunderstood the question and had known about her half-brother “for years”.
“Melania Trump’s popularity is lower than nearly any other recent candidate’s spouse during an election year,” the National Post says. “The most popular spouse was Barbara Bush, George H W Bush’s wife. Michelle Obama was also viewed fairly positively at about this stage of 2012, though a little worse four years earlier, when she wasn’t as well known.”
As far back as 2000, Melania told the New York Times that if she were ever first lady, she would be “very traditional – like Betty Ford or Jackie Kennedy”. Even though her husband has won the presidency, Melania is the “real winner”, says Celia Walden at the Daily Telegraph. “After all, the American dream Melania’s been living for two decades now will just keep on getting better.”
While her husband’s acceptance speech was being analysed by media watchers around the world, Melania’s fashion choices were being subjected to a similar level of examination – the kind of scrutiny she can surely come to expect in the years ahead.
When Donald and Melania married in 2005, she became his third wife after Ivana Trump (1977-1992) and Marla Maples (1993-1999). Ironically, Bill and Hillary Clinton were among the wedding guests at Donald’s Palm Beach estate in Florida.
Despite many years spent as a model constantly being photographed, Melania is notoriously private. She also tends to be wary of the media and avoids taking part in too many public appearances. That is, until recently, when she gave a 15-minute-long speech in front of hundreds of Republicans in Cleveland.
She was born with the name Melanija Knavs in Slovenia, which was then part of Yugoslavia. She found fame as a model when she was 16 and anglicised her name, becoming Melania Knauss instead.
Now that Donald Trump will become the 45th US President, Melania will become the first First Lady to have ever posed nude for a magazine. She will also be the first third wife in the White House and the first FLOTUS born in a communist country.
Melania and Donald Trump welcomed a son into their family in 2006. His name is Barron but Melania calls him ‘mini-Donald’. Barron is said to take after his father, in that he often wears a suit and tie, and also likes playing golf in his spare time.
Melania has previously told the media that she and Donald opted not to have a nanny when Barron was born. Her husband has echoed those comments, saying “if you have too much help, you don’t get to know your children.” The couple do have a cook and a cleaner to help with the household chores, though.
Melania says she has an easy relationship with her husband’s four children from his previous marriages and sees herself as their friend, rather than their mother.
Fun fact: She is only 8 years older than Donald’s first born son, Donald Jr.
Melania is gifted in the art of languages and can speak Slovenian, Serbian, French, German, and English. Critics have noted that her speech is heavily accented and that could be why she doesn’t speak publicly very often.
In an interview earlier this year, Melania insisted she was her own woman. “Do I agree with him (Donald) all the time? No. I think it is good for a healthy relationship. I am not a ‘yes’ person. No matter who you are married to, you still need to lead your life.”
Like Donald Trump, Melania can also be found updating her statuses, firing off tweets and uploading photos on social media (though to a much lesser extent than her outspoken husband). Follow her at @MELANIATRUMP on Twitter, @MelaniaTrump on Facebook and the realmelaniatrump on Instagram.