Celebrity

Here’s Why Melania Trump Didn’t Share Her Phone Number with Donald Trump on Their First Meeting

Published on: January 22, 2025 at 8:55 AM
By Vikas Sharma
Melania and Donald Trump
Melania Trump (L) and Donald Trump (R) (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The inauguration ceremony marks Melania Trump and Donald Trump‘s journey back to the White House after the Republican candidate’s colossal victory in the presidential election for the year 2024. It will be a new beginning as they start their life together, marking their 20-year-old marriage life. The love story of the couple is full of unique moments and great milestones that even fascinate many with its bold and surprising beginning in 1998.

The first-ever encounter between the two took place in September 1998, when Donald Trump attended a New York Fashion Week party, thrown by former modeling agent Paolo Zampolli. He had just separated from his second wife, Marla Maples. Melania Knauss was her name then; she was a Slovenian-born model who had just moved to the United States for her career.

Chemistry didn’t really go well between Donald and Melania at first, not even in this glamorous setting. According to an interview with Harper’s Bazaar back in 2016, Melania said that Donald did ask for her phone number that night, but she wasn’t interested because he was already with a date. “Of course, I didn’t give it to him,” she added. Melania decided to play a trick on Donald. “I told him, ‘You give me your number, and I will call you,'” she said.

This bold move was not just to set boundaries—it was a test. Melania wanted to see what number Donald would come up with. “What if he gave me a business number?” she laughs, recalling her thought process. Donald surprised her by giving her all his numbers: his office, his Mar-a-Lago residence, and even his home in New York. This gesture of openness caught her attention, and she found herself drawn to his energy and vitality.

The date, too, was memorable. Donald took Melania out to dinner and then to Moomba, one of the fashionable New York City hotspots where celebrities went to be seen in the late 1990s. “I remember that night like it was yesterday,” Melania said, fondly reminiscing. It was not without some bumps, though. There was a temporary split in 2000 after Donald briefly pursued the presidential nomination for the Reform Party. Their love, however, was genuine, and they reconnected by February of that year when Donald had gotten out of the race.

Their love blossomed over the following years. In 2004, Donald proposed to Melania at the Met Gala; she described the moment as “a delightful surprise.” The two married in an extravagant ceremony at Mar-a-Lago in 2005 and later welcomed their son, Barron, in 2006. Years later when asked about her marriage, Melania described it as “fantastic,” citing that they understand each other.

Their marriage has endured the scrutiny of Donald’s political career and the media attention. Still, Melania Trump has been faithful to herself and, at times, expressed her disagreements with Donald on some of his opinions. While on a solo visit to Africa in 2018, she said, “I don’t always agree with what he believes, and I tell him so.” She made it clear that she needed to maintain her own voice in their relationship.

By downs and ups, the relationship between Donald and Melania is strong, remaining a testament of the joint commitment and respect they have both shared. On their way to go back to the White House, it’s still captivating to see and to inspire.

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