Melania Trump, from a Slovenian village to the White House
Melania Trump, discreet wife of Donald Trump, who during her campaign accused immigrants of all evils, is of Slovenian origin. She would become the first American First Lady of foreign origin since 1825.
The United States has a new First Lady. Her profile is as atypical as that of her new US president, Donald Trump. Coming from a humble background, Melania Knauss was born in 1970 in Novo Mesto in the former Yugoslavia, and spent her childhood in Sevnica, a small Slovenian village about 100 kilometers east of the capital Ljubljana.
The new celebrity of Melania Trump does not go unnoticed in her hometown, which intends to take advantage of it. The mayor of the city, Srecko Ocvirk, is also delighted with the victory of Donald Trump. “Sevnica is a small town and events like this contribute to our international recognition,” he hoped. The centrist Prime Minister Miro Cerar also boasts: "In a way, Slovenia now has a First Lady". The Slovenian media have even taken to imagining a "Melania Trump" street or even a new name for the city's school, which just happens to be run by a former classmate of Mrs. Trump.
The American dream
Arriving in the United States in 1996, she embarked on a modeling career. Today her journey catches up with her and puts her past back in the spotlight: nude photos sparked controversy over her legal status at the time. Posted by the New York Post, the photos were apparently taken in 1995, when she always claimed to have arrived in 1996. The new First Lady defended herself on Twitter, saying she "had always been in good standing with the laws of that country on immigration ".
In a speech at a rally in Philadelphia on November 3, Donald Trump's wife reconsidered her origins and spoke of her American dream. "I wanted to make my dream come true and go to a place where I have freedom and opportunity," she explained. “So I came here. Living and working in America was really lucky, but I wanted more. I wanted to become American.” It was in 2006 that Melania Trump became a full citizen of the United States, a year after marrying the American billionaire and with whom she has a 10-year-old son, Barron.
Michelle Obama's speech fiasco and plagiarism
The former model was alongside her husband, 24, her senior, when he announced his victory in New York. A discreet presence, like the one she maintained throughout the campaign, where she sought to humanize her husband. "He will make a fantastic president," she said in early November in Berwyn, near Philadelphia. Seeking to soften the image of her husband, Melania Trump advocated "American values, kindness, honesty, respect, compassion, generosity."
His first big speech at the Republican Party convention in mid-July had turned into a fiasco. She was then criticized for having plagiarized a 2008 speech by Michelle Obama.
Remained silent after this incident, it is to defend her husband, accused of sexual harassment by several women that she leaves her reserve. In a simple and straightforward speech, where she appeared for the first time without Donald Trump, she introduced herself as an "independent" woman, assuring that her husband "respected women and offered them the same opportunities" as men.
In 1999, Melania Trump told the New York Times that she would make a "very traditional First Lady, like Betty Ford or Jackie Kennedy. I will support him." Speaking of her ambitions, she said she would be "an advocate for women and children".
Note that the last First Lady of foreign origin was Louisa Adams, who was the wife of President John Quincy Adams (1825-1829). She was born in England.
