What You Didn't Know About Melania Trump

Although Donald Trump has made quite a show for himself, his current wife, Melania, has mostly kept to the background. We're taking a closer look at Trump's right-hand woman, from her childhood, to their first run-in, to their marriage today.



She used to be a model

Born in Slovenia, Melania began modeling at the age of five. By 16, she was doing commercials. "I went professional after my studies," Melania recently told Parenting magazine (via the New York Post). "My mom loved fashion. We loved to travel and go to Italy and Paris." Melania would go on to pose for some of the most iconic fashion photographers in the business, including Patrick Demarchelier and Mario Testino, and posed for everything from Sports: Illustrated to Vogue.

She met Donald while he was dating someone else

Speaking to Harper's Bazaar in 2016, Melania admitted she met Donald at a Fashion Week party in 1998 while he was still dating someone else. "He wanted my number, but he was with a date, so of course I didn't give it to him," she said. Instead, she wanted his number. The reason: she wanted to see what kind of digits he'd give her and would determine what to do from there. (Hint: personal numbers = good; business = bad.) To Melania's surprise, Donald gave her all of his numbers. "The office, Mar-a-Lago, home in New York, everything." Melania called him after she returned from a photo shoot in the Caribbean. No word on what happened to the other woman, though we're guessing she's pretty bitter.


She stayed out of Donald's campaign

If you wondered why you didn't hear or see much of Melania on the campaign trail, it was by choice. "I'm choosing not to go political in public because that is my husband's job. I'm very political in private life, and between me and my husband I know everything that is going on. I follow from A to Z," she told Harper's Bazaar in 2016. "But I chose not to be on the campaign. I made that choice. I have my own mind. I am my own person, and I think my husband likes that about me." Given her husband's outrageous viewpoints, she was probably smart to stay away.

She doesn't always agree with him

Considering Donald Trump is one of the most blunt and outspoken figures in the world, it should come as no surprise that his wife can dish it right back. In fact, Harper's Bazaar took specific note of Melania's reported "unflappability." "I give him my opinions, and sometimes he takes them in, and sometimes he does not," she told the magazine. "Do I agree with him 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." She adds: "I don't want to change him. And he doesn't want to change me." Wait…she doesn't always agree with Donald Trump? Can she run for president, instead?

She's Trump's third wife

Anyone who paid attention to the tabloids in the '80s and '90s knows that Donald's marriage to Melania isn't exactly his first time at the rodeo. In fact, Trump's previous two marriages were filled with the kind of gossip and scandal that would put the entire Kardashian family to shame. Trump married his first wife, Ivana, in 1977. The couple quickly became one of the most powerful and talked about duos on the New York social scene. That is, until Trump allegedly began ascandalous affair with Marla Maples, catalyzing one of the most high-profile divorces of the end of the century. Trump ultimately married Maples in 1993, about a year after his divorce from Ivana. They lasted for six long and painful years that basically kept the New York Post in business.



She's barely older than her step-kids

At age 46, Melania is a mere seven years older than Donald's oldest son, Donald Trump, Jr., who is 38. Awkward, much? She's not that far off in age from Trump's other children, either; Eric, Ivanka, and Tiffany are ages 32, 35 an 23, respectively.

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