Donald and Melania Trump are keeping a united front through the former president's criminal trial. Here's a timeline of their 26-year relationship.
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- Donald and Melania Trump met in 1998 and dated on and off until getting married in 2005.
- In 2006, Melania gave birth to their son, Barron, who is Donald's fifth child.
- The couple was the center of attention when Donald was president from 2016 to 2020.
Former President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, met back in 1998 and have been married since 2005.
Here's a complete timeline of their relationship, from their first meeting to their time together in the White House.
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When they first met in September 1998, Melania Knauss was working as a model in New York after immigrating to the US from Slovenia in 1996.
According to Vanity Fair, Trump and Knauss first crossed paths while attending a party — thrown by their mutual friend and co-owner of Metropolitan Models, Paolo Zampolli — at New York City's Kit Kat Club during Fashion Week.
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Trump and his second wife, Marla Maples, finalized their divorce in 1999 — just after Trump and Knauss first crossed paths — but they'd been separated since 1997.
Per the New York Post, Maples told The Telegraph, "Donald was never the man I wanted to marry. He and his world were alien to me … I'm so happy to be away from Donald and I'm just trying to move as far away as I can."
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In November 1999, Trump did a phone interview on "The Howard Stern Show." The conversation quickly turned personal as Knauss was brought on the phone, and the couple started openly discussing their sex life with the host.
Trump was quiet for much of the interview while Stern grilled Knauss about what she was wearing and asked if she was nude — to which she responded, "Almost."
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Reports of a breakup circulated in early 2000, and Trump himself confirmed the split to New York Times reporter James Barron on January 13 at a party celebrating the Miss USA pageant.
He told the reporter, "Melania is an amazing woman, a terrific woman, a great woman and she will be missed."
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Trump proposed to Knauss in 2004 with a 15-carat ring valued at $1.5 million dollars, which he got at half price, according to The New York Times.
Of their engagement, the future Mrs. Trump told the New York Post, "It was a great surprise. We are very happy together."
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The two tied the knot in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 22, 2005, and hosted the reception at Donald's Mar-a-Lago estate.
Melania reportedly wore a $100,000 couture gown designed by John Galliano for Christian Dior, according to The Kansas City Star.
Several celebrities were in attendance among the 500 guests, including the Clintons and Barbara Walters, as well as Billy Joel and Tony Bennett, who both sang at the reception.
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A few months after their wedding, the couple appeared on "Larry King Live." They discussed everything from their first meeting to their relationship dynamic, and Melania noted that she and Donald were a great match right from the start.
"It was a great chemistry and energy. We had a great time and start [sic] to talk ... Something was there right away," she said.
Donald added, "We just have a really good relationship."
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Barron William Trump was born on March 20, 2006.
He's Melania's only child and Donald's fifth, with his closest half-sibling, Tiffany, almost 13 years his senior.
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After years of teasing about running for president, Donald officially announced his candidacy at Trump Tower in New York City on June 16, 2015.
His daughter Ivanka introduced him on stage while he descended down an escalator with Melania.
During his speech, he made a number of statements regarding his agenda, including building a wall along America's border with Mexico.
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One day before the presidential election in 2016, the future first lady made her first solo speech at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
She was introduced by future Vice President Mike Pence's wife, Karen Pence, and spoke of her husband's goals as president as well as her own immigration story.
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Following President Trump's inauguration ceremony, the couple did their first dance at the Inaugural Ball to Frank Sinatra's "My Way."
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Once President Trump was officially inaugurated, he moved from New York to the White House in Washington, DC. But in a break from tradition, Melania and Barron didn't join him for months.
They officially moved into the White House on June 11, and Melania tweeted a picture of her view of the Washington Monument to celebrate.
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In 2018, reports of an affair and payoff between President Trump and adult-film star Stormy Daniels broke.
According to The Wall Street Journal, a lawyer for Trump reportedly arranged a $130,000 payment to Daniels a month before the 2016 election "as part of an agreement that precluded her from publicly discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump."
According to Daniels, the affair occurred in July 2006, soon after Barron was born.
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The first lady sat down with ABC reporter Tom Llamas for a tell-all interview.
When Llamas asked, "Do you love your husband?" Melania simply replied, "Yes. We are fine. Yes."
He also probed about the president's reported affair, and Melania said she doesn't think much about it since she has "much more important things to think about and to do."
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When the president and first lady exited Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Melania appeared to brush her husband away as he attempted to take her hand twice on their way down the stairs.
Similar rebuffs occurred when they were boarding Marine One in February 2018 and during a press event in April 2018.
But this time, some commentators conceded that she could've been holding down her dress in the windy conditions.
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In the midst of the 2020 election campaign trail, the president and the first lady both tested positive for COVID-19. Their son Barron also tested positive along with several members of the White House staff.
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The day before the 2020 presidential election, Melania gave a solo campaign speech in Huntersville, North Carolina.
In the speech, she advocated for her husband's efforts when it came to the coronavirus pandemic and repeated President Trump's messaging around law and order while slamming presidential candidate Joe Biden.
The next day, she cast her vote for her husband in Palm Beach, Florida.
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As President Biden was sworn into office at the beginning of 2021, the Turmps relocated to their Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida.
(Timothy A. Clary/Pool Photo via AP)
When Donald attended his April arraignment in New York City Melania did not appear to be present.
The former first lady was also noticeably missing during Donald's post-arraignment speech at Mar-a-Largo later that day.
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Before entering the courtroom for his New York criminal trial, Donald paused in front of a group of journalists and wished his wife a happy birthday.
"It'd be nice to be with her, but I'm at a courthouse for a rigged trial," he said.
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Melania hadn't been present for much of Donald's 2024 presidential campaign since he announced he was running again in 2022.
But she reportedly returned to the campaign trail for a private Log Cabin Republican event in West Palm Beach.
This story was originally published in November 2018 and most recently updated on April 29, 2024.
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