Melania Trump and her husband have been back at the White House for nearly two months. For his part, Donald has made headlines every single day since he took office, but the opposite has been true with his wife. Melania hasn’t been spotted too many times in public at all, though she decided to open the White House for public tours not long after her husband’s reappointment.
The former model, born in Slovenia, is only the second First Lady to be born outside the US. However, now, one Congresswoman is questioning whether the president should deport her.
For Melania Trump, returning to the White House a second time was not always a certainty. She has gone on record to state that her second tenure at the White House will be different to her first. For a start, the First Lady won’t be living at the White House full-time, while a new source recently came forward to explain what her life is really like. To put it bluntly, it seems as though she doesn’t have that much time for politics.
Melania hasn’t been seen in public much in recent months. Speaking to People Magazine, an unnamed source claimed that she has spent much time recently filming her Amazon documentary.
The political source told the news outlet that Melania’s absence from the spotlight during Trump’s first month in office “should not come as a surprise because this is how she lives.” The source added that Melania “will never be a traditional first lady” and has “her own ideas on what she wants to do.”
Further, People Magazine wrote that the first lady “has been involved with moving ahead on her own projects, and recently she has been in the White House for that.”
Melania Trump
“Melania has been busy shooting her documentary and that has taken place in several locations, including the White House,” the Miami political source told People.
Over the last month, she has split her time between the White House and the Trump family’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. However, a People Magazine source says that Melania hasn’t been in the capitol on any official First Lady duties.
“[Donald and Melania] both live at Mar-a-Lago and have quarters in the White House,” the source said. “But she leads her own life and joins him when appropriate in either place,” adding that when she is in Palm Beach, she “keeps to herself” but does accompany Donald to dinner “on occasion.”
Melania has a clear vision of what she wants to accomplish in her second FLOTUS term. During her first term at the White House, she focused heavily on her Be Best campaign, aiming to help children fight bullying. The Slovenian-born former model told Fox in January that she hopes to expand the awareness campaign further in the next few years.
“I didn’t have much support from anyone. I invited all of the streaming platforms to the White House,” Melania stated. “I had the roundtable, and I didn’t have much support from them. And imagine what we could do in those years if they will rally behind me and teach the children and protect them about social media and their mental health.”
Melania Trump reopened the White House for public tours
So what will she be doing in her second term? Well, one of the first things she decided to do was include the public. Melania announced in February that the White House would officially open for public tours.
“The President and I are excited to reopen the White House to those interested in the extraordinary story of this iconic and beautiful landmark. There is much to learn about the American Presidency, the First Families who have lived here, and our Nation’s rich history from a firsthand experience at the White House. This opportunity is unique among nations around the globe—a tradition we are honored to continue for the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come each year,” the First Lady said.
Melania’s journey to the White House is quite extraordinary. Born in Slovenia, she began modeling at five years old and performed at fashion shows that featured children’s clothing, just like many of the children of workers at the clothing factory in Sevnica.
Even as a young woman, Melania stood out. As a teenager, she moved to a small flat in the suburbs of Ljubljana, the capital and largest city of Slovenia. She studied at a special high school for industrial design and photography and was very devoted to her studies.
From Slovenia to the White House
At the age of 17, Melania’s life would change forever. While leaving a fashion show, Slovenian fashion photographer Stane Jerko noticed the quiet teenager leaning on a fence.
“She was tall and slim, long hair and long legs, and that’s why I found her suitable to be a photo model. I noticed not just her good looks but also – even though it may sound strange – her inner energy,” Jerko told Voice of America.
At 18, she signed with a Milan modeling agency and ditched her Slovenian name for the more Germanic Melania Knauss. She spent a couple of years doing modeling work in Milan and Paris, and she did very well, though not supermodel well. In 1995, she was scouted by Metropolitan Models co-owner Paolo Zampolli, a friend of Donald Trump.
That was a huge game changer for Melania, and Zampolli convinced her to travel to the U.S. on a visitor’s visa. It was in New York City that Melania would get her big break. She lived in a shared apartment at Gramercy Park, but since she was 26 years old—much older than the average aspiring model at the time—she gambled and put everything on the line.
Became a US citizen in 2006
Melania said she was “determined,” but in the era of supermodels like Kate Moss and Cindy Crawford, she had to do something extra. She decided to appear without any clothes in the French men’s magazine, Max. Ultimately, being 26 years old actually turned out to be an advantage for her. Due to a law that prohibited younger models from promoting tobacco, Melania’s face was soon all over Times Square in a commercial for a cigarette company.
When she and Donald Trump met, married, and later welcomed son Barron, Melania put her modeling career on hold. Her life changed forever, and in 2006, she became a US citizen. However, the road to getting citizenship wasn’t easy. In 2023, Melania made a public appearance during a naturalization ceremony at the National Archives in Washington and described how difficult it was to understand immigration laws.
“My personal experience of traversing the challenges of the immigration process opened my eyes to the harsh realities people face, including you, who try to become US citizens,” she said. “The pathway to citizenship is arduous. My life turned into labyrinth of organizing paperwork.”
When Donald took office for a second time, one of his main talking points was the issue of immigration. He has threatened to perform mass deportations and revoked the legal status of 530,000 immigrants in the US. While many agree with him that it’s necessary, others don’t.
Democrat says Donald should consider deporting his wife
Some weeks ago, that led to Melania becoming the center of attention. At an anti-DOGE protest in Los Angeles, California, Democrat Congresswoman Maxine Waters suggested that Donald Trump potentially should deport his wife.
“When he [Trump] talks about birthright, and he’s going to undo the fact that the Constitution allows those who are born here, even if the parents are undocumented, they have a right to stay in America. If he wants to start looking so closely to find those who were born here and their parents were undocumented, maybe he ought to first look at Melania,” Waters said.
“We don’t know whether or not her parents were documented. And maybe we better just take a look.”
While many wondered about Melania’s whereabouts, she returned to the spotlight on April 1. She appeared in a leopard-print dress at the Women of Courage Award Ceremony, where she was met with loud cheers and applause.
The award, established by then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2007, “recognizes women from around the world who have demonstrated exceptional courage, strength, and leadership — often at great personal risk and sacrifice,” according to the State Department.
According to The Hill, this year’s award recipients included National Human Rights Commission President Henriette Da, Papua New Guinea activist Major Velena Iga, former Hamas hostage Amit Soussana, South Sudanese women’s rights leader Zabib Musa Loro Bakhit, Sri Lankan journalist Namini Wijedasa, Yemeni detainees advocate Amat Al-Salam Al-Hajj, Romanian disabilities rights activist Georgiana Pascu, and marine conservationist Angelique Songco.
“Love has inspired me to embrace forgiveness”
Melania delivered a remark at the ceremony, saying: “Love has inspired me to embrace forgiveness, nurture empathy, and exhibit bravery in the face of unforeseen obstacles. Today, we celebrate courage — a strength that is based in love.”
She went on: “We are honored to join an exceptional assembly of brave women who have shown their love and refuse to let fear or hardship define them. Their collective achievements and dedication move us all.”
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