What is Melania Trump’s Net Worth?
Melania Trump, the former first lady of the United States, is a Slovenian model with a net worth of $50 million. She is best known as the third wife of Donald Trump, whom she married in 2005.
Aside from her role as first lady, Melania is recognized for her appearance in the 2001 film “Zoolander” and her appearances on her husband’s NBC reality series “The Apprentice” from 2004 to 2015.
Before moving to America in 1996 to pursue modeling in New York City, Melania modeled in Paris and Milan. She has graced the covers of several magazines, including “Vogue,” “Harper’s Bazaar,” “InStyle,” “Vanity Fair,” and “Glamour.”
In 2016, Melania received criticism after a speech she gave at the Republican National Convention appeared to have plagiarized parts of Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic Convention speech.
Early Life and Education
Melania Trump was born Melanija Knavs in Slovenia on April 26, 1970. Her parents were Amalija, a patternmaker, and Viktor, a manager for car and motorcycle dealerships. Melania grew up in Sevnica with her sister Ines. She often participated in fashion shows for her mother’s employer, Jutranjka. Despite her father’s membership in the League of Communists of Slovenia, Melania and Ines were baptized as Catholics.
She attended Ljubljana’s Secondary School of Design and Photography before enrolling at the University of Ljubljana to study design and architecture. However, she dropped out after just one year.
Modeling and Business Ventures
Melania began modeling at age 5 and signed with a Milan agency at 18. She moved to Manhattan in 1996 and posed for “Max” magazine in 1999. In 2010, she launched a jewelry line and skin care collection, but lost business partners in 2017. Her ventures earned $15,000 – $50,000 in royalties in 2016.
Melania Trump’s Time as First Lady
Melania Trump, also known by the Secret Service code name “Muse,” became the first lady of the United States on January 20, 2017. She had a staff of 11 and was only the second first lady to be born outside of the United States.
During her time as first lady, Melania focused on the prevention of online bullying with her “Be Best” campaign, a move that earned criticism from many as a result of her husband’s consistently hostile behavior on Twitter.
Trump helped plan an April 2018 state dinner honoring French president Emmanuel Macron, and she visited the National Gallery of Art with his wife, Brigitte, the day before the event.
In October of that year, Melania embarked on a solo tour of four African countries; during the trip, she bottle-fed baby elephants, spent a day at a school in Malawi, and visited an orphanage in Nairobi.
The Trump administration’s treatment of illegal immigrants has resulted in many children being separated from their parents, and Melania spoke about it in June 2018, saying, “We need to be a country that follows all laws, but also a country that governs with heart.”
On June 17, 2018, Melania visited the Upbring New Hope Children’s Shelter in McAllen, Texas, where 55 immigrant children were being kept; she met with social workers and medical staff and said that she wanted to help reunite the children with their families.
Melania Trump’s Personal Life
Melania met Donald Trump in 1998 at a party and married him in 2005 in a Christian Dior gown. They have a son, Barron, who was born in 2006. Melania has been a U.S. resident since 2001 and became an American citizen in 2006. She underwent an embolization in 2018 for a benign kidney condition.
In 2017, Melania filed a $150 million lawsuit against the “Daily Mail” for publishing an article accusing her of being an escort during her time as a model. The article was retracted, and the lawsuit was settled for $2.9 million, focusing on emotional distress.
Melania Trump’s $1.5 Million Apartment Purchase
Melania Trump bought a 1-bedroom apartment on the 33rd floor of Trump Tower in January 2016 for $1.5 million. The Trumps already owned a penthouse that took up the top three floors of the building, leading to speculation that Melania purchased the smaller apartment to use as a library.