Melania Trump

Melanija Knavs started modeling in Yugoslavia at 16, changed her name to Melania Knauss, and worked the Paris and Milan circuits before Paolo Zampolli sponsored her move to the United States in 1996. Zampolli introduced her to Donald Trump in Manhattan in 1998; Trump was still married to Marla Maples, but the two began dating, and he worked to secure her more modeling jobs. They married in 2005, had a son the following year, and she launched a jewelry line in 2009. She urged him to run in 2016, then stayed off the trail and helped with strategy instead - a decision that held until scandal forced her into damage control. Her first tenure as first lady was marked by a delayed move to Washington, minimal public events, the Be Best children's campaign, and quiet influence over policy decisions including the end of family separation at the border. She left the White House in 2021 endorsing false claims of election fraud, spent four years largely unseen, and returned to the role in 2025.