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'''Melania Trump''' (born '''Melanija Knavs''';<ref name=Jordan30Sept>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/meet-melania-trump-a-new-model-for-first-lady/2015/09/30/27ad0a9c-6781-11e5-8325-a42b5a459b1e_story.html|title=Meet Melania Trump, a new model for first lady|date=September 30, 2015 |first=Mary|last=Jordan|authorlink=Mary Jordan (journalist)|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |accessdate=October 1, 2015}}</ref><ref>The Slovenian pronunciation is {{IPA-sl|mɛːlaˈnija ˈknaːws|}}.</ref> April 26, 1970; [[Germanized]] to '''Melania Knauss''') is the third wife of American [[billionaire]] [[Real estate development|real estate developer]] and [[Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016|2016 U.S. presidential candidate]] [[Donald Trump]].<ref name= NYPost0816>{{cite news|last= Charles |first= Marissa |title= Melania Trump would be a First Lady for the Ages |date= August 16, 2015 |newspaper= [[New York Post]] |url= http://nypost.com/2015/08/16/melania-trump-would-be-a-first-lady-for-the-ages/ |accessdate= August 17, 2015}}</ref> She is a [[Slovene Americans|Slovene-American]] jewelry and watch designer and former [[model (person)|model]].<ref name=occupation>{{cite web|url=http://theredwire.org/861/the-women-of-billionaires/2/|title=The Women of Billionaires|publisher=TheRedWire|accessdate=November 17, 2015}}</ref> Born in the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]] (now [[Slovenia]]), she became a permanent resident of the United States in 2001 and a citizen in 2006.<ref>{{cite news |last= Kuczynski |first= Alex |authorlink= Alex Kuczynski |title= Melania Trump's American Dream |work= [[Harper's Bazaar]] |date= 2016-01-06 |url= http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a13529/melania-trump-interview-0216/ |accessdate= February 24, 2016}}</ref>
'''Melania Trump''' (born '''Melanija Knavs''';<ref name=Jordan30Sept>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/meet-melania-trump-a-new-model-for-first-lady/2015/09/30/27ad0a9c-6781-11e5-8325-a42b5a459b1e_story.html|title=Meet Melania Trump, a new model for first lady|date=September 30, 2015 |first=Mary|last=Jordan|authorlink=Mary Jordan (journalist)|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |accessdate=October 1, 2015}}</ref><ref>The Slovenian pronunciation is {{IPA-sl|mɛːlaˈnija ˈknaːws|}}.</ref> April 26, 1970; [[Germanized]] to '''Melania Knauss''') is the third wife of American [[billionaire]] [[Real estate development|real estate developer]] and [[Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016|2016 U.S. presidential candidate]] [[Donald Trump]].<ref name= NYPost0816>{{cite news|last= Charles |first= Marissa |title= Melania Trump would be a First Lady for the Ages |date= August 16, 2015 |newspaper= [[New York Post]] |url= http://nypost.com/2015/08/16/melania-trump-would-be-a-first-lady-for-the-ages/ |accessdate= August 17, 2015}}</ref> She is a [[Slovene Americans|Slovene-American]] jewelry and watch designer and former [[model (person)|model]].<ref name=occupation>{{cite web|url=http://theredwire.org/861/the-women-of-billionaires/2/|title=The Women of Billionaires|publisher=TheRedWire|accessdate=November 17, 2015}}</ref> Born in the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]] (now [[Slovenia]]), she became a permanent resident of the United States in 2001 and a citizen in 2006.<ref>{{cite news |last= Kuczynski |first= Alex |authorlink= Alex Kuczynski |title= Melania Trump's American Dream |work= [[Harper's Bazaar]] |date= 2016-01-06 |url= http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a13529/melania-trump-interview-0216/ |accessdate= February 24, 2016}}</ref>

In July 2016, Trump was accused of plagiarism after she gave a speech on the first day of the [[2016 Republican National Convention]]. The speech, which she delivered live on prime-time television to an audience estimated to be 35 million people, sparked controversy when viewers and media commentators noticed that a portion was very similar to a 2008 speech by [[Michelle Obama]].


==Early life==
==Early life==

Revision as of 19:15, 20 July 2016

Melania Trump
Trump in 2016
Born
Melanija Knavs

(1970-04-26) April 26, 1970 (age 54)
Sevnica, Yugoslavia
(now Slovenia)
Occupation(s)Model, fashion designer
Years active1986–present
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
​
(m. 2005)​
ChildrenBarron William Trump
Donald Trump, Jr. (stepson)
Ivanka Trump (stepdaughter)
Eric Trump (stepson)
Tiffany Trump (stepdaughter)
WebsiteOfficial website

Melania Trump (born Melanija Knavs;[1][2] April 26, 1970; Germanized to Melania Knauss) is the third wife of American billionaire real estate developer and 2016 U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump.[3] She is a Slovene-American jewelry and watch designer and former model.[4] Born in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (now Slovenia), she became a permanent resident of the United States in 2001 and a citizen in 2006.[5]

Early life

Knauss was born in Sevnica[6][7] in southeastern Slovenia (then part of Yugoslavia) on April 26, 1970.[7] Her father, Viktor Knavs, who managed car and motorcycle dealerships for a state-owned vehicle manufacturer,[7][8] and was a member of the Slovenian Communist Party, came from the nearby town of Radeče. Her mother, Amalija (Ulčnik),[7] came from the village of Raka[9] and was a patternmaker at the children's clothing manufacturer Jutranjka in Sevnica.[7][10] She has an older sister, Ines,[11] and an older half-brother, whom she has never met,[12] from her father's previous relationship.[7]

Knauss grew up in a modest apartment in a concrete housing block in Sevnica, in Slovenia's Lower Sava Valley.[1] When she was a teenager, the family moved to a two-story house near Sevnica[13] and used a high-rise apartment in Ljubljana.[7] She completed her first year at a Slovenian university before moving to Milan.[7] Knauss studied design at the High School of Design in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, and architecture at the University of Ljubljana. Although her web site and the Republican Party convention program say that she obtained a degree, other sources say that she did not.[3][7][14][15][16][17][18]

Career

Knauss began her modeling career at age 16 and at age 17 posed for Slovenian fashion photographer Stane Jerko.[19] At 18 she signed with a modeling agency in Milan, Italy.[20] She was named runner-up in the 1992 Jana Magazine "Look of the Year" contest, held in Ljubljana, which promised its top three contestants an international modeling contract.[7][16]

After attending the University of Ljubljana and leaving after her freshman year,[21] she then worked as a model for fashion houses in Milan and Paris, France, before relocating to New York City in 1996,[3] her contract and visa negotiated by Italian businessman Paolo Zampolli.[7] Working with photographers including Helmut Newton, Patrick Demarchelier, and Mario Testino,[8][14] she subsequently appeared on the covers of Harper's Bazaar (Bulgaria), Ocean Drive, In Style Weddings, New York Magazine, Avenue, Allure, Vanity Fair (Italy) and Vogue (following her marriage to Trump), and GQ (UK),[22] She was featured as a bikini model in the 2000 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.[23][24][25] As a model, she was associated with Irene Marie Management Group and Donald Trump's Trump Model Management.[26]

In the 2000s, she appeared in an advertisement for Aflac insurance in which she and the Aflac mascot, a duck, voiced at the time by comedian Gilbert Gottfried, exchange personalities via a Frankenstein-like mad experiment.[20]

Marriage to Donald Trump

Melania and Donald Trump at the Oscar de la Renta Fashion Show in New York City, 2006

After moving to New York City in 1996,[27] Knauss met Donald Trump at a Fashion Week party in New York City in September 1998, while he was still married to, but separated from, Marla Maples;[1][28] Trump attended the event with another date, Celina Midelfart, and Knauss initially refused to give Trump her phone number.[16] Knauss broke off the relationship shortly after it began, but the couple reconciled after a few months.[7] Their relationship gained attention after a 1999 interview on The Howard Stern Show.[29] In 2000, Knauss appeared with Trump while he campaigned for the Reform Party 2000 presidential nomination.[29] Their relationship gained additional publicity after the 2004 launch of Trump's successful business-oriented reality television show, The Apprentice. Donald Trump described their long courtship in 2005: "We literally have never had an argument, forget about the word 'fight' ... We just are very compatible. We get along."[28]

Trump in 2011

After becoming engaged in 2004, Donald Trump and Melania Knauss were married on January 22, 2005, at The Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida, followed by a reception in the ballroom at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.[30]

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.[30][31] At the reception, Billy Joel serenaded the crowd with "Just the Way You Are" and supplied new lyrics about Trump to the tune of "The Lady Is a Tramp".[30]

The Trumps' wedding ceremony and reception were widely covered by the media.[27] Trump wore a $200,000 dress made by John Galliano of the house of Christian Dior.[30] The cake at the reception was a 50-pound orange Grand Marnier chocolate truffle cake, with a Grand Marnier butter-cream filling, covered with 3,000 roses created by the chef at Mar-a-Lago.[30]

In 2006, Trump gave birth to a son named Barron William Trump.[20] Donald suggested his first name and Melania his middle name.[32] As an infant, Barron reportedly occupied his own floor in the Trumps' apartment in Trump Tower in Manhattan, but often slept in a crib in his parents' bedroom.[32] He plays golf with his father and is reported to be fluent in Slovenian.[33] He is said to like wearing a suit and tie, and Melania's nickname for him is "Mini-Donald".[8]

Trump and her husband are often seen and photographed together at New York City society events and receptions.[34] Television personality Barbara Walters, impressed with Trump's intelligence when she met her, has said of her: "Maybe because she's so pretty, we don't expect her to be as smart as she is."[35]

In 2015, asked about her husband's presidential campaign, Trump said, "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."[35] When asked by The New York Times what her role would be if Donald were to become president, Trump replied: "I would be very traditional. Like Betty Ford or Jackie Kennedy. I would support him."[8]

During Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, an anti-Trump PAC published an attack ad featuring a nude photo of Trump that was published in 2000 as part of a British GQ magazine photoshoot.[36] The photograph shows her handcuffed to a briefcase, lying on a fur blanket aboard Donald's private jet.[1][22][37]

Republican National Convention speech plagiarism controversy

Main article: Melania Trump speech plagiarism controversy

On July 18, 2016, Melania Trump gave a speech on the first day of the 2016 Republican National Convention. The speech contained a paragraph that was nearly identical to a paragraph of Michelle Obama's speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. [38][39][40]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Jordan, Mary (September 30, 2015). "Meet Melania Trump, a new model for first lady". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  2. ^ The Slovenian pronunciation is [mɛːlaˈnija ˈknaːws].
  3. ^ a b c Charles, Marissa (August 16, 2015). "Melania Trump would be a First Lady for the Ages". New York Post. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  4. ^ "The Women of Billionaires". TheRedWire. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  5. ^ Kuczynski, Alex (January 6, 2016). "Melania Trump's American Dream". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved February 24, 2016.
  6. ^ "Slovenians for Trump". Politico. June 4, 2016.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Ioffe, Julia (April 27, 2016). "Melania Trump on Her Rise, Her Family Secrets, and Her True Political Views: "Nobody Will Ever Know"". GQ. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d Greenhouse, Emily (August 17, 2015). "Vitamins & Caviar: Getting to Know Melania Trump". Bloomberg Politics. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  9. ^ "Tednik CELJAN". Celjan.si. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
  10. ^ "Melania Trump: Slovenian Model Legend". April 13, 2016.
  11. ^ "Donald Trump and Melania Knauss Marriage Profile". about.com.
  12. ^ Rapkin, Mickey (May 17, 2016). "Lady and the Trump". Du Jour. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  13. ^ "Melania Trump's Past Took Her From A River Town In Slovenia To Trump Tower". The Huffington Post. February 12, 2016.
  14. ^ a b Trebay, Guy (September 30, 2015). "Melania Trump, the Silent Partner". The New York Times. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  15. ^ Rushton, Christine (February 24, 2016). "Republican elites are accepting the idea of a Donald Trump nomination". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  16. ^ a b c Collins, Lauren (May 9, 2016). "The Model American". The New Yorker. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  17. ^ O'Donnell, Katy (July 18, 2016). "RNC program flubs Melania Trump's biography". Politico. "The RNC refers to a college degree, but Trump left college after one year."
  18. ^ Trump Campaign Lies About Melania Trump's Nonexistent College Degree, Ashley Feinberg, Gawker, July 19, 2016.
  19. ^ Kocijancic, Filip (July 3, 2014). "Stane Jerko: Kako sem odkril Melanio Trump" (in Slovenian). SIOLnet. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  20. ^ a b c Melanie Trump - "My World", melaniatrump.com. Retrieved August 17, 2015
  21. ^ Wilkie, Christina (July 19, 2016). "Melania Trump's Claims She Graduated From College Are About As Credible As Her Speech Last Night". The Huffington Post. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  22. ^ a b "The Future First Lady? See Melania Trump's Nude Photo Shoot". British GQ. March 4, 2016 [originally published in January 2000]. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  23. ^ "Melania Knauss - Photos". The FMD. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  24. ^ Holz, George. "Melania Knauss, FHM, December 1, 2000". Getty Images. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  25. ^ "Photoshoots". melaniatrump.com. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  26. ^ "Melania Knauss". The FMD. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  27. ^ a b "Melania Knauss Biography". Star Pulse. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  28. ^ a b King, Larry (May 17, 2005). "Interview with Donald, Melania Trump". CNN. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  29. ^ a b Wadler, Joyce (December 2, 1999). "A Supermodel at the White House?". New Straits Times. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  30. ^ a b c d e Stoynoff, Natasha (January 23, 2005). "Donald Trump Weds Melania Knauss". People. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  31. ^ Gillin, Joshua (July 21, 2015). "The Clintons really did attend Donald Trump's 2005 wedding". Politifact (Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald). Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  32. ^ a b Schneider, Karen S. (May 1, 2006). "Billion Dollar Baby: He Has Mom's Eyes, Dad's Lips, His Own Floor in Trump Tower and Doting Parents: Welcome to the World of Barron William Trump". People. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  33. ^ Katz, Celeste (September 3, 2015). "Trump still questioning Jeb Bush for using Spanish". New York Daily News. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  34. ^ Navarro, Desiree. "Donald Trump Hosts the Opening Night Reception of Veranda: New York's Best at Trump Park Avenue". Getty Images. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  35. ^ a b "Barbara Walters Is Shocked that Melania Trump Is Smart Because She's Also Beautiful", rushlimbaugh.com/daily, November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2015
  36. ^ Ridge, Sophy (March 23, 2016). "Naked photo row: Donald Trump's chest-beating macho politics can only have one winner". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  37. ^ Baker, Debbi (March 24, 2016). "Trump threatens Cruz over naked Melania photo". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  38. ^ Tumulty, Karen; Costa, Robert; DelReal, Jose (July 19, 2016). "Scrutiny of Melania Trump's speech follows plagiarism allegations". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  39. ^ Bump, Philip (July 19, 2016). "Melania Trump's speech appears to have cribbed from Michelle Obama's in 2008". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  40. ^ Haberman, Maggie; Rappeport, Alan; Healy, Patrick (July 19, 2016). "Melania Trump's Speech Bears Striking Similarities to Michelle Obama's in 2008". The New York Times. Retrieved July 19, 2016.

External links

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