Age gap relationships always bring controversy and Melania Trump was not spared from the scandal either.
The Slovenian model came to the US and was immediately enchanted by the American lifestyle. But she wasn’t here on someone else’s dime and was asking for her own money. She then met her long-time partner and now husband, Donald J Trump, who was 53 at the time, almost 27 years her senior.
A rare video from April 1999, featuring a stunningly beautiful 29-year-old Melania Trump, gracing the event for her cover on Ocean Drive magazine 🌊 pic.twitter.com/6DyT9a9Xn6
— Mambo Italiano (@mamboitaliano__) January 23, 2025
The media was not kind to her, and when in 1999 they went public with their relationship, Melania Trump was asked all sorts of questions. Tabloids wanted to squeeze as much juice out of the story as they could. However, Melania shut everyone down.
In 1999, ABC News sat down with Melania Trump to talk about her (26) and Donald Trump’s relationship. The interview, which was clearly planned to generate headlines and scandals, however, didn’t succeed. Don Dalher asked Melania about her relationship with Donald and how she looked at it.
In response, Melania said that the general public does not know her and has a very superficial perception of her. They don’t know what she is like and what she likes. “People who talk like this, they don’t know me,” she added. That’s why unsavory comments on her and Donald’s relationship hurt her a lot.
Watch First Lady Melania Trump talk about whether she’s been hurt by comments accusing her of being with President Trump for his money in an ABC News interview with Don Dahler from 1999 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/p6sHU4ZdLh
— Jonas Viereck (@jonas_viereck) September 2, 2024
Don went ahead and asked if she was expecting a ring out of this relationship, to which the future first lady replied that if Donald was to ask, she would say yes.
Donald Trump talked about his desire to be the president of the United States long before his first campaign in 2016. It was when he supported Democrats and talked about the white house quite regularly. Keeping pace with this, a reporter asked if Melania Trump would be up for being the first lady of the United States and the responsibilities that come with the designation.
Melania was very supportive of Donald and said that she indeed would be glad to be the first lady. She would be a very traditional First Lady, much like Jackie Kennedy, and would do a lot of social obligations that come with the role.
The reporter then took a shot at her modeling career and told her that she probably wouldn’t be able to endorse brands and would have to leave her modeling career behind. He asked Melania Trump if that would be ok with her. To this, Melania responded that she would gladly leave everything behind and would stand by her man.
The reporter was still curious about Melania Trump getting called a gold digger and asked if it’s unusual for 26-year-old models to be with 53-year-old “car-mechanic.” To this, Melania Trump swiftly replied,”You know what, you can’t sleep or to hug or to talk with beautiful things, with a beautiful apartment, a beautiful plane, beautiful cars, beautiful houses, you can’t do that.”
“You could feel very empty,” she responded to accusations that alleged that she was only interested in Trump for his fortune. “And if somebody said, “You’re with the man because he’s rich and famous,” they don’t know me,” she added.
Melania Trump and Donald Trump began dating in 1998 and, after signing a prenuptial, got married in 2005. The couple welcomed their son, Barron Trump, in 2006.
