Donald Trump and Melania are celebrating 20 years of marriage. They first met at a New York Fashion Week party in 1998. From those early days to the White House, their relationship has been transformed greatly. In commemoration of the anniversary, Trump posted a wedding photo from long ago on X and wrote, “Happy 20th Anniversary to Melania!”
On the POTUS account, Trump shared another post. This time, it was a tribute to Melania, saying, “Celebrating 20 years with my beautiful wife and our incredible First Lady, Melania. You’re an extraordinary wife and a wonderful mother. Happy Anniversary, @FLOTUS.”
It started after Donald Trump’s second marriage ended- the separation of actress Marla Maples-having met Melania, a model from Slovenia, to whom she wasn’t inclined initially, although recalling an encounter with Trump as a Slovenian born model, recalled during a Harper’s Bazaar interview in 2016 “I did not give him my number,” Melania said. “I wanted to see what number he would give me.”.
At the time, Trump was finalizing his divorce from Maples, which was finalized in 1999. Some time later, Trump called Melania “an amazing woman” and began to publicly date her.
In 2004, the couple attended the Met Gala, at which Trump proposed to Melania. “We are very happy together,” she told The New York Post after the engagement. They married in Palm Beach, Florida, in January 2005.
Soon after, they decided to start a family. In a 2006 interview, Trump said he was thrilled at the prospect of becoming a father again: “I’m not going to be doing the diapers. She will be an unbelievable mother.” Their son, Barron William Trump, was born later that year.
When Trump campaigned for president in 2016, Melania took her place as First Lady, and as part of this position, she was expected to live in the White House. He described her as an “amazing mother” and stated that he believed she would be an incredible First Lady. Melania, along with Barron, relocated to the White House in 2017 but returned to Mar-a-Lago before Joe Biden was inaugurated in 2021.
With Trump coming back to office in his second non-consecutive term, Melania resumed her work as First Lady again.