Melania Trump Is Ready to Share Her 'Perspective' in 'Deeply Personal' Memoir

Former President Donald Trump has long been in the limelight. A New York real estate tycoon and reality TV star—with some cameos in hit movies like Home Alone 2 (1992)—he was no stranger to national attention by the time he entered the White House. But few knew much about his wife, Melania, until her term as first lady.

She's now telling her story in a "deeply personal" memoir, Melania, that will be released by Skyhorse Publishing on Oct. 8.

"I believe it is so important to share my perspective. The truth," she said in a sneak peek video released last week on her social media channels.

Here’s a closer look at Donald Trump’s wife, how they met and more about their marriage and family.

Who is Donald Trump’s wife?

Donald Trump’s current wife is Melania Trump. She was born Melania Knavs on April 26, 1970, in Novo Mesto, Yugoslavia (now Slovenia).

Melania came from a working-class family—her father was a car salesman and her mother worked in the textile industry. After high school, she studied design at the University of Ljubljana but left to pursue a modeling career.

What did Melania Trump do for a living before becoming first lady?

Melania Trump was a successful international model before she married Donald Trump and later became first lady of the United States. At 16, she was “discovered” by a Slovenian photographer, and by 18 she had signed with a modeling agency in Milan.

Through the late 1980s and early 1990s, Melania modeled in Milan and Paris under the name Melania Knauss. In 1996, her modeling agency—headed by Paolo Zampolli— brought her to New York for work.

“I told Melania, ‘If you would like to come to try the United States, we’d like to represent you,’” Zampolli recalled of her immigration to New York, as reported by Vanity Fair.

How did Donald Trump meet his wife Melania?

In 1998, two years after she’d moved to the U.S., Melania met her future husband Donald Trump at a Fashion Week party in New York. The party was thrown by Melania’s agent, Zampolli, who’s claimed to have introduced the couple.

Donald was still married at the time to Marla Maples, but they had been separated since 1997. According to People, he arrived at the party with another date, but by the end had asked Melania for her number.

“I knew who he was, and I said, ‘Give me your number, and I’ll call you back,” Melania replied, per the New York Post. Donald proceeded to give her the numbers to his penthouse, office, jet, limo and Mar-a-Lago estate. Soon after they were spotted on a date in Greenwich Village.

"It was a great chemistry and energy,” Melania later said of their early relationship, on Larry King Live. “We had a great time and start [...] to talk ... Something was there right away.”

When did Donald Trump and his wife get engaged?

Donald and Melania got engaged in April 2004. He popped the question with a large diamond ring valued at $1.5 million-$2 million (it was 12 or 15 carats, as conflicting publications reported).

"It was a great surprise. We are very happy together,” Melania told the New York Post.

When did Donald Trump and Melania get married?

Donald and Melania Trump married in Palm Beach, Fla., on Jan. 22, 2005. The reception was unsurprisingly held at Mar-a-Lago.

According to a report in The Kansas City Star, Melania wore a $100,000 Christian Dior gown designed by John Galliano. Many A-list celebrities and public figures were in attendance, including Bill and Hillary Clinton and Barbara Walters. Billy Joel and Tony Bennett both sang at the reception.

How many children do Donald Trump and Melania have?

Donald and Melania Trump have one child together, Barron Trump, born March 20, 2006. While he is Melania’s only child, Donald has four others with ex-wives Ivana Trump and Marla Maples.

During his first marriage to Ivana Trump, Donald had three children: Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric. He shares one child, daughter Tiffany, with his second wife Marla Maples.

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How many times has Melania Trump been married?

Although Donald had been married twice before he tied the knot with Melania, he's her first and only husband. However, she does have colorful dating history.

Her former boyfriend, Jure Zorcic, was interviewed by ABC News during the 2016 presidential campaign.

"We met each other like in a movie," he said. "It was a hot summer day, in between wars in Slovenia [in 1991]. It was the beginning of a new political era for us, the city was empty, blocked by the army. I was on my motorbike, and she had been walking down a street. As I passed by her, I had a moment and thought, 'Wow, who is this girl? She is so beautiful, I must turn back and follow her.'"

Zorcic and Melania had a coffee date, and continued to go on dates for several months as they enjoyed the summer together. "It was a bit of shock when I met her," he said. "She is very special, that's the truth. I was impressed by her beauty from the very first moment. She was very nicely dressed, and her behavior was classy. She was tall, had long hair across her face—I could hardly see her eyes—such style!"

Zorcic added, "I think her marriage to Trump was fate. Nobody believed 20 years ago that she would live at the top of the world, on Fifth Avenue in Trump Tower—even her!"

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When was Donald Trump married to Ivana Trump?

Among Trump’s three marriages, Ivana was the first. The two met in 1976 while she was living in Montreal, Canada, and working as a model and ski instructor. Like Melania, Ivana was an immigrant—hailing from Czechoslovakia. She was working in New York City and had gone out to dinner with some model friends when Donald approached her.

“We made polite small talk, no funny stuff at all,” she wrote in her 2017 memoir, Raising Trump. “He sensed correctly that flirting would not work with me and acted like a gentleman.”

Donald won her over with lavish gifts and grandiose romantic gestures, even flying to Canada to surprise her during a runway show. By April 1977, the couple was married— and by December of that year Ivana gave birth to their first child, Donald Jr. They welcomed daughter, Ivanka, in 1981 and younger son, Eric, in 1984.

Throughout their marriage, Ivana worked with Donald, helping him build his real estate empire. After over 12 years of marriage, she discovered he was having an affair with Marla Maples when the actress showed up during a family vacation in Aspen, Colo.

“This young blonde woman approached me out of the blue and said ‘I’m Marla and I love your husband. Do you?’” Ivana wrote in her memoir. “I said, ‘Get lost. I love my husband.’ It was unladylike but I was in shock.”

Ivana filed for divorce in 1990 and resigned from her position at the Trump Organization. They had a contentious two-year long divorce, but later became friendly again and had a good co-parenting relationship. Ivana attended his presidential inauguration in 2017. When she died in 2022, he described her as a “wonderful, beautiful and amazing woman, who led a great inspirational life,” according to People.

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Donald Trump’s marriage to Marla Maples

Trump met actress and model Marla Maples in 1985 at a celebrity tennis match. The pair were reportedly just friends at first, but it turned into a romantic affair that would later end his first marriage.

Contrary to Ivana’s account in her memoir, Maples claimed that when she met her in Aspen, Ivana already knew about the affair. She also claimed Ivana wasn’t happy, but didn’t want the marriage to end because of the children.

“Do I wish more than anything that we could have had this relationship after the divorce papers were signed? Absolutely. With all my heart ... But it didn’t happen that way,” Maples said on the ABC News podcast Journeys of Faith with Paula Faris. “Everything had to happen in the way that it did to bring us to where we are now.”

After Donald and Ivana separated, he continued his relationship with Maples, which was on and off until she became pregnant in 1993. Their daughter Tiffany was born in October of that year and the couple got married in December at the Plaza Hotel. (Wedding attendants included Howard Stern, Rosie O’Donnell and O.J. Simpson.)

In a less dramatic fashion, Donald and Marla separated in May of 1997, apparently due to “differences” in how they saw the world and wanted to raise Tiffany. They had a two-year long divorce during which Maples contested the prenuptial agreement—but eventually walked away.

Over 20 years later it was revealed she’d received just $1 million cash and another million to buy a house with. But, like with Ivana, Maples later became friends with Donald and even celebrated Easter with him in 2023.

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