First Lady who speaks five languages fluently

Dar es Salaam. Slovenia-born Melania Trump certainly breaks the mould, she becomes the first third wife to occupy the White House, the first non-native speaker of English, and the first fluent in five languages – Slovenian, German, French, Serbian and English.

But with Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 45th US President on Friday, she also certainly did not become the first foreign-born first lady - London-born Louisa Adams, wife of sixth US president John Quincy Adams, was the first. Her husband served from 1825 to 1829.

Born on April 26, 1970, Melania is 46 - meaning there is a 24 year age gap to her 70-year-old husband. She was raised by her Communist party member father Viktor Knavs, who managed car dealerships for a state-owned vehicle manufacturer, and her mother Amalija Ulnik, a pattern maker at a textile factory.

She was born in Sevnica, which is now in Slovenia but was then part of Yugoslavia. Her name was originally Melanija Knavs but she found fame as a model under the name Melania Knauss.

She began modelling at 16. Photographer Stane Jerko spotted her as a 17-year-old in Ljubljana as he left a fashion show, and invited her for a trial photoshoot. Her shoot with acclaimed Jerko catapulted her into the spotlight, leading to a contract with Italian model agency ID in Milan aged 18, and went on to work in Paris too.

She graced the world’s catwalks and magazines, appeared naked on the front of British GQ magazine, in a shoot on Trump’s customised Boeing 727 featuring Melania wearing handcuffs, wielding diamonds, and holding a chrome pistol.

“My mom was in the fashion business. I was five years old when I did my first catwalk and did commercials at 16. I went professional after my studies. My mum loved fashion. We loved to travel and go to Italy and Paris.”

Melania now runs a jewellery business, selling her products on shopping channel QVC. She has joked that after looking after her son and running her business, her husband is her third job.

And in April, 2015, she said she would stick to a natural look and grow old gracefully.

How did she end up in America? She continued to educate herself as she worked across Europe, becoming fluent in English, French and Serbo-Croat. She then went to New York in 1996 when ID Models founder Paolo Zampolli got her a contract and a visa. She reportedly arrived in the US on an H-1B visa which, through a quirk in immigration law, admits models as highly skilled workers alongside scientists and computer programmers.

She obtained her green card in 2001 before becoming a citizen five years later.

How did she meet Donald Trump?

Melania was 28 when she met Trump in 1998 at a party thrown by Zampolli at the Kit Kat Club in Manhattan.

Trump was there with Norwegian cosmetics heiress Celina Midelfart but made a beeline for Melania and asked for her number. But, because he had a date, she refused to give it to him - and instead asked the billionaire for his.

She said later: “If I give him my number, I’m just one of the women he calls.

“I wanted to see what his intention is. It tells you a lot from the man what kind of number he gives you. He gave me all of his numbers.”

She played it cool, waiting a week before calling and they began seeing each other, only to break up for a few months when Trump toyed with the idea of running for US President in 2000 as a member of the Reform Party.

In 2000, Melania also gave a rare joint ¬interview with Donald to Howard Stern, telling the shock jock: “We have incredible sex at least once a day.” (Compiled by Citizen Reporter)