The Tragic Truth About Melania Trump

Born Melania Knauss in the Eastern European nation of Slovenia, Melania Trump married New York real estate developer Donald Trump in 2005. The wedding was a star-studded affair, with a guest list that included former U.S. president Bill Clinton and wife Hillary, rocker Billy Joel, "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell, and many more celebrities.

For the next decade or so, she enjoyed a luxurious life of pampered opulence, residing in a gold-encrusted penthouse atop Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Then, it all changed in a heartbeat when her husband declared his candidacy for president — and defied all expectations by winning the race. As America's first lady, Melania was under the media microscope, subjected to a degree of public scrutiny unlike anything she had experienced to that point. Previously content to let her bombastic husband bask in the spotlight, she was forced to assert herself as a public figure in her own right — which, as is common within the world of politics, didn't always go smoothly.

A somewhat enigmatic figure, she has also experienced her share of sadness along the way. To find out more, keep reading to uncover the tragic truth of Melania Trump.

Melania Trump was just 28 when she met future husband Donald Trump at a party during New York Fashion Week in 1998. 24 years her senior, Trump had a well-earned reputation as a lady's man. He had already been married twice, divorcing wife Ivana after his affair with Marla Maples, who went on to become his second ex-wife before they married and then divorced. In fact, Trump was on a date with another woman when he asked for Melania's number; she declined, instead asking for his. 

Before long, they began dating. "We had a great connection," she recalled in a 2016 interview with GQ. However, they weren't long into their relationship when she decided to break up. "She had some trust issues with him at the beginning," said Matthew Atanian, her former roommate and photographer. "She was telling me that she wouldn't have it, he was back to his old ways. She kept her apartment to have her own space because of this."

However, Atanian revealed they got back together just a few months later. As the magazine pointed out, it's unclear whether she gave him an ultimatum to remain faithful or whether she simply made peace with the fact that he could stray. Whatever the case, Trump clearly clicked the boxes for her. "It's about all that power and protection," an "old friend" from her village in Slovenia told GQ. "I think she needed a strong man, a father figure."

It's no secret that, prior to her marriage, Melania Trump was a top model who wasn't a prude when it came to nudity; She was regularly seen in magazines sporting lingerie and had no problem taking it all off for a steamy GQ photoshoot back in 2000. In 2016, when Donald Trump was campaigning for president, a false rumor spread that sex work was a part of Melania's modeling career.

Slovenian magazine, Suzy, published that the modeling agency she worked for was actually a front for an elite escort agency for wealthy clients — and that Melania herself was a high-end escort. Britain's Daily Mail ran with the story in their profile on Melania, sharing all the salacious details while also concluding there was no truth to the rumor, which first originated in a tell-all book that may not even exist (the publication could find no trace of its author).

That led her to sue the Daily Mail for libel, seeking $150 million in damages. The Daily Mail issued retractions and an apology to Melania. As CBS News reported, Slovenske Novice newspaper, publisher of Suzy, issued a statement on its website insisting that the story "never claimed that Melania Trump offered services of sexual escort." She proceeded with her lawsuit, and won. The damages, however, were nowhere near the $150 million she was asking for, but were reportedly in the $3 million range.

Prior to running for president, Donald Trump had spent years spreading the blatant lie that Barack Obama wasn't a legitimate president because he was born in Africa, not the U.S.A. (Obama was born in Honolulu). Speculation arose that "The Celebrity Apprentice" host's dislike for his presidential predecessor heightened after the 2011 edition of the White House Correspondents Dinner, where Obama hilariously mocked a clearly seething Trump.

That made it extra ironic when Melania Trump delivered a rousing speech during the 2016 Republican National Convention, which was later found to have been extensively plagiarized from a 2008 speech given by then-first lady Michelle Obama. "There's no cribbing of Michelle Obama's speech," declared Donald's campaign manager (and future jailbird) Paul Manafort at the time, reported BBC News.

However, a member of her staff ultimately accepted the blame, falling on her sword in order to spare Melania the further humiliation of having to apologize to the wife of her husband's sworn enemy. As ABC News reported, speechwriter Meredith McIver claimed that Melania read her several passages from Michelle's speech, which she wrote down and then incorporated into the new speech. "This was my mistake, and I feel terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps, as well as Mrs. Obama," said McIver. "No harm was meant." McIver also said that she submitted her resignation, but that it was not accepted.

Days after the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape leaked, in which Donald Trump bragged about being able to freely grope women because he's famous, a woman came forward with a shocking allegation. Writing for People, journalist Natasha Stoynoff wrote about her experience interviewing Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in 2005. After they greeted Melania Trump — who was pregnant with son Barron at the time — Stoynoff claimed Trump brought her into a room, and pulled the door closed. "I turned around, and within seconds he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat," she wrote. The attack stopped when a butler entered, informing Trump that his wife would be joining them in a moment to continue the interview.

After the butler left them alone, she said that Trump told her, "You know we're going to have an affair, don't you?" Addressing Trump's claim that what he said in the "Access Hollywood" tape was simply "locker room talk," Stoyanoff concluded by writing, "But it wasn't just talk in my case, it was very much action. And, just for the record, Mr. Trump, I did not consent." Melania couldn't have been thrilled when, years later, Stoynoff broke down in tears recalling the incident while testifying at the trial over writer E. Jean Carroll's rape lawsuit — or when the jury at that trial determined that her husband was liable for sexual assault.

In the spring of 2024, Donald Trump was found guilty on 34 counts involving the so-called hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels to secure her silence about their alleged affair prior to the 2016 presidential election. When Daniels first went public with those allegations in 2018, the details proved particularly embarrassing for Melania Trump, given that the alleged tryst took place shortly after the birth of their son, Barron.

Melania tried to dismiss the whole thing when she addressed the controversy during an interview with ABC News. "It is not concern and focus of mine," she said. "I'm a mother and a first lady, and I have much more important things to think about and to do."

When Daniels then testified during the hush money case all those years later, Melania reportedly felt mortified all over again. "She remains angry and doesn't want to hear [the alleged hush money payment] mentioned," a source told People, adding that she has been ticked off about the whole thing since news of the alleged affair first surfaced in 2018. The former president vehemently denied that he had sex with Daniels, dismissing the allegations via tweet as "100% fabricated and made-up charges."

Allegations of her husband's extramarital escapades weren't Melania's only cause for embarrassment in 2018. There was also then-President Donald Trump's interview with "Fox & Friends," when he was asked what he had given to the First Lady for her recent birthday. "Well, I better not get into that 'cause I may get in trouble," as reported by CNN. "Maybe I didn't get her so much," he added, before recalling that he did get her a little something — emphasis on "little," though. "I got her a beautiful card and some beautiful flowers," he said.

He also offered an excuse for his thoughtlessness, claiming that his job as leader of the free world kept him far too preoccupied to be bothered with such picayune details as his wife's birthday (although, interestingly, he did have plenty of time to give TV interviews discussing it). "You know I'm very busy to be running out looking for presents," he explained.

Stephanie Winston Wolkoff was once one of Melania Trump's closest friends and confidantes, until she was ousted from her role in the White House when a scandal erupted over claims she profited from extravagant spending at the inauguration. "Was I fired? No," she told The New York Times in 2019. "Did I personally receive $26 million or $1.6 million? No. Was I thrown under the bus? Yes."

Wolkoff didn't just get mad, she got even. Her weapon: a recording device, secretly taping conversations that formed the bulk of her tell-all, "Melania and Me," which contained numerous revelations that Melania would have liked to remain secret. As The Guardian pointed out in its review, Wolkoff is no lightweight in the New York fashion scene, having produced the Met Gala, worked for Vogue's Anna Wintour, and served as a fashion director for New York Fashion Week.

The first lady received even more negative press when Wolkoff played some of those recorded conversations on television, including one in which Melania lamented being criticized for her husband's actions and policies while focusing on planning Christmas at the White House. "They say I'm complicit. I'm the same like him, I support him. I don't say enough I don't do enough where I am," Melania said (via CNN). "I'm working ... my a** off on the Christmas stuff, that you know, who gives a f*** about the Christmas stuff and decorations? But I need to do it, right?"

While it's abundantly clear the Melania Trump is a doting mother to son Barron Trump, her relationships with her husband's kids from his first marriage appear to be a bit more complicated. That seems to be the case when it comes to her stepdaughter, Ivanka Trump. A 2017 Vanity Fair piece, for example, pointed to a "frostiness" between the two, while a source told People that it was "no secret" that Melania "isn't pals with the three older Trump kids."

In New York magazine's excerpt of Stephanie Winston Wolkoff's "Melania and Me," she detailed Melania's rivalry with Ivanka. In fact, Melania was reportedly furious about Ivanka's efforts to steal the spotlight during the 2016 inauguration. "It was Donald's inauguration, not Ivanka's," Wolkoff wrote. "But no one was brave enough to tell her that." Wolkoff also wrote about the first lady's efforts to derail Ivanka's plans, which were dubbed "Operation Block Ivanka," intended to keep her away from the primo photo ops during the big day. "Yes, Operation Block Ivanka was petty," Wolkoff wrote. "Melania was in on this mission. But in our minds, Ivanka shouldn't have made herself the center of attention in her father's inauguration."

Melania's chilly relationship with Ivanka reportedly fractured even further. In the 2024 book, "American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady," as reported by Radar, Melania contemptuously referred to Ivanka as "The Princess," and the two reportedly battled over media coverage.

There have been rumors aplenty about the marriage of Donald and Melania Trump, bolstered by some chilly public interactions between the two — and let's not forget all those allegations of his infidelity. But when it comes to their marriage, what is the state of the union?

In her unauthorized biography, "Free, Melania," CNN correspondent Kate Bennett claimed that the Trumps didn't share a bed — or even a bedroom — when they lived in the White House. As Business Insider reported, the book alleged that the then-president slept in the primary bedroom in the White House residence, while his wife had her own bedroom on an entirely different floor, in a space that had hosted Marian Robinson, mother of previous first lady Michelle Obama.

Apparently, those sleeping arrangements weren't exclusive to the White House, but had carried over from Trump Tower. Karen McDougal, the Playboy Playmate who claimed to have had a lengthy affair with the 45th president, recalled Trump taking her on a tour of the penthouse and showing her Melania's private quarters — which were separate from his own.

In his book, "The Fire and the Fury," author Michael Wolff claimed that Melania Trump's reaction to her husband winning the 2016 presidential election wasn't exactly a happy one. "Melania was in tears — and not of joy," Wolff wrote (via an excerpt appearing in New York magazine). She realized that, as first lady, the scrutiny placed on her marriage would escalate considerably. As a source told Us Weekly in 2018, she was not thrilled that "all eyes are on her relationship with her husband. It's not an easy time for her."

Meanwhile, another source claimed that life in the White House was sheer misery for her. "She is very, very unhappy with her life," the insider told the outlet. "If she could, she would get away from Donald and just be with her son."

After Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, they left the White House and retreated to Mar-a-Lago. Even though she would revert to being a private citizen once again, it was clear that the life she knew in New York City was long gone, replaced by her new reality in Florida. But would Trump's esteemed Florida estate become her refuge — or her prison? Apparently, it's the former. "Melania is leading her own life, and still feels happy being at Mar-a-Lago, surrounded by people who love her and who never talk about reality, or bad things about her husband," a source told People.

By all accounts, Melania Trump has always been close to her parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs. As Politico reported, prior to making the move to the White House, they lived with her and their grandson, Barron, in the penthouse at Trump Tower, and would often spend weekends with her at Mar-a-Lago, or Donald Trump's golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey.

In January 2024, Melania shared tragic news via social media. "It is with deep sadness that I announce the passing of my beloved mother, Amalija," she wrote in a tweet. "Amalija Knavs was a strong woman who always carried herself with grace, warmth, and dignity. She was entirely devoted to her husband, daughters, grandson, and son-in-law. We will miss her beyond measure and continue to honor and love her legacy."

Melania gave an emotional tribute when she eulogized her mother at the funeral. "In her presence, the world seemed to shimmer with radiance and joy," she said, reported AP. "Our bond was unbreakable."

In the years since leaving the White House and settling down in Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump immediately began his quest to win another term as president, hitting the road for rallies and giving countless media interviews. Melania Trump has rarely appeared with him at these events, preferring to remain behind the scenes to focus on raising their teenage son, Barron Trump.

That focus on parenting is reportedly all-encompassing. A source told People that Melania has little interest in cultivating friends, preferring to spend her time with family. "Melania's friends are her family members," the source stated. "Many Mar-a-Lago Club members and others know and see Melania. But they aren't friends. They don't get together and gab or socialize. She has always surrounded herself with family. She is a doting mother to Barron and very protective of him. This is nothing new."

That certainly sounds like a lonely life, yet it's also been a way for Melania to insulate herself and Barron from her husband's myriad of legal troubles and multiple criminal indictments. "They live in a fairy tale world and just deal with things as they come and seem to survive pretty well," the source added. "They do what is possible to get past the problems without disrupting their lifestyle."