A look inside Donald Trump and Melania’s 20-year romance as the former First Lady celebrates her 54th birthday

Donald and Melania Trump’s romance long predates their time as the United States’ first couple — as do Trump’s numerous controversies.

Two years after the Slovenian immigrant came to the United States to pursue a modeling career, their paths first crossed in September 1998. Melania, who is 24 years his junior, first met Donald at a party in Manhattan during New York Fashion Week. .

In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar in January 2016, the entrepreneur talked about their first meeting. “He wanted my number, but he had a date, so of course I didn’t give it to him… I told you I’d call you, but I’m not giving you my number. Give it to me.”

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A few days later, Melania called her future husband and expressed her amazement at his “sense of vitality” and “energy.” The real estate magnate was divorced from Marla Maples, his ex-wife, at the time. Shortly after first meeting, the couple began dating, and in April 2004, Donald proposed at the Met Gala. “That came as a big surprise. Melania told the New York Post at the time: “We are very happy together.”

The following January, the couple married at the Mar-a-Lago resort owned by the Apprentice alum. Melania called the wedding “fantastic” when she and Donald appeared together on Larry King Live in May 2005.

Melania responded to host Larry King when he questioned whether she had been anxious on her wedding day, saying: “Not at all. We are aware of the nature of our relationship. Nothing to worry about”

In March 2006, the couple welcomed their son, Baron, a year after they took their vows. Along with his daughter Ivanka Trump from his previous marriage to Ivana Trump, Donald is also the father of Eric and Donald Trump Jr.

Throughout her husband’s 2016 presidential campaign, his four years as commander in chief (from 2017 to 2021) and the numerous scandals that followed him after he left the White House, Melania remained by his side. The former first lady has admitted that despite her loyalty, she and the controversial politician do not always see eye to eye.

“I don’t always agree with what he believes, and I tell him that too. “I’m giving him my honest opinion and advice,” she told reporters in Egypt during her solo tour to Africa in October 2018.

Melania emphasized that she “had her own voice and my own opinion, and it’s very important to me that I express what I feel.”