Donald and Melania Trump: A timeline of their relationship
Former President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, has been by each other’s sides for decades.
Since Donald Trump became the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election, the pair has once again been pushed into the spotlight. However, his wife hasn’t been with him for most of his current presidential run, and the former president has said in the past that he prefers it that way.
The one-time commander-in-chief told TODAY in September 2023 that Melania Trump is a “private person” and will join him on the campaign trail at the “appropriate time” as it can be so “nasty and mean.”
Learn more about the couple with a look back at their long partnership, from their first meeting to becoming the first family.
1998: Donald and Melania Trump first met
In 1998, Paolo Zampolli, a former modeling agent, hosted a New York Fashion Week party in which both the Slovenian-born model, then-named Melania Knauss, and Donald Trump were in attendance.
It was there the pair came face-to-face for the first time.
But Donald Trump wasn’t alone at the event. The real estate mogul, who was separated from second wife Marla Maples at the time, had yet another woman on his arm that night.
“He wanted my number, but he was with a date, so of course I didn’t give it to him,” the future first lady later explained in a 2016 interview with Harper’s Bazaar. “I said, ‘I am not giving you my number; you give me yours, and I will call you.’ I wanted to see what kind of number he would give me — if it was a business number, ‘What is this? I’m not doing business with you.’”
Instead, she recalled that he gave her all of his numbers, including “the office, Mar-a-Lago, home in New York, everything.”
After waiting a few days, she dialed his digits.
“I was struck by his energy,” she told the publication. “He has an amazing sense of vitality.”
1999: Donald Trump’s second divorce is finalized
Though Donald Trump and Maples, with whom he shares daughter Tiffany (born 1993), separated in 1997, their divorce wasn’t finalized until 1999 — nearly six years after their wedding.
But they’d been together longer than that.
Donald Trump and Maples began dating in the late 1980s, when he was still married first wife Ivana Trump. His and Ivana Trump’s marriage lasted 15 years, during which time they had three children together, Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981) and Eric (born 1984).
With his second divorce behind him, Donald Trump continued to pursue his budding relationship with the future Melania Trump.
2000: Donald and Melania Trump have a brief breakup
The first time Donald Trump tried his hand at presidential politics was in 2000, when he attempted to secure the Reform Party nomination. Earlier that year, he announced that he and then-Melania Knauss had split.
‘’Melania is an amazing woman, a terrific woman, a great woman,’’ Donald Trump told The New York Times Public Lives columnist James Barron in January. Barron described Trump as “looking as sincere as one could imagine Mr. Trump could look” as he added, “And she will be missed.’’
However, she wasn’t missed for long. By February of the same year, Trump had abandoned his Reform Party race and was pictured with his girlfriend by his side again.
2004: Donald Trump popped the question
Donald Trump and his future wife attended fashion’s biggest bash, the annual Met Gala, together in 2004. But the sartorial celebration took a back seat for the couple that night, as Donald Trump used the event as a lavish backdrop to propose.
“It was a great surprise,” the bride-to-be told the New York Post of their engagement at the time. “We are very happy together.”
2005: Donald and Melania Trump get married
Less than a year after the proposal, on January 2005, the couple swapped vows in a ceremony held in Palm Beach, Florida. The newlyweds and their guests then partied at the reception held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
In an interview with Larry King held shortly after the nuptials, Melania Trump described their wedding day as “fantastic,” adding, “We had a great time.”
As for the honeymoon, the groom said they remained at Mar-a-Lago for the duration.
“Why are we gong to leave our gorgeous, beautiful house, called Mar-a-Lago, and venture out to some tropical island where things aren’t clean or whatever?” he said.
2006: Donald and Melania Trump welcome a baby boy
During that same chat with King, Melania Trump declared, “We want to have a family. We want to have a baby together.”
Her husband agreed, noting, “There’s nothing like a good marriage, and there’s nothing like having children. I have four great children. If you have the money, having children is great. Now, I know Melania, I’m not going to be doing the diapers. I’m not going to be making the food. I may never see the kids, frankly. No. She will be an unbelievable mother. I’ll be good father, but I’ll be, you know, doing my deals.”
On March 20, 2006, they had the chance to see just what kind of parents they’d be when they welcomed their only child together, son Barron.
2016: Donald and Melania Trump rave about each other amid presidential campaign
Ahead of the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump told crowds that his wife was ready for his win.
“She’s an incredible mother, she loves her son, Barron, so much,” he told supporters in Wisconsin in April 2016. “And I have to say is she will make an unbelievable first lady.”
And when she stepped up to the podium at that same event, she raved about him, stating, “He’s a hard worker. He’s kind. He has a great heart. He’s tough. He’s smart. He’s a great communicator. He’s a great negotiator. He’s telling the truth. He’s a great leader. He’s fair.”
2017: Melania Trump and son Barron moves into White House after Donald Trump
While the Trumps entered the White House side-by-side as former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama welcomed them on Inauguration Day in January 2017, only the newly elected president stayed on in Washington, D.C. — at first.
Melania Trump waited until June, when Barron’s school year ended, before she and their son made the move and called the White House home.
2021: The Trumps leave the White House
Ahead of Joe Biden being sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, the Trumps moved back to their Palm Beach home of Mar-a-Lago in January 2021.
2023: Donald Trump talks Melania Trump’s future of joining him on the campaign trail
In September 2023, as Donald Trump campaigned for another shot at the presidency, he was asked if his wife would soon join him on the trail.
“Pretty soon,” he told Kristen Welker of “Meet The Press.” “When it’s appropriate, but soon. She’s a private person, a great person, very confident person, and she loves our country very much. She’ll be, at the appropriate time, she’ll be out there.”
He then added, “Honestly, I like to keep her away from it. It’s so nasty and so mean.”
2024: Melania Trump speaks out after assassination attempt on Donald Trump
After Donald Trump was the subject of a failed assassination attempt July 2024, just days before the Republican National Convention, she released a statement voicing her support for him.
“When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron’s life, were on the brink of devastating change,” she wrote in the statement after the incident. “I am grateful to the brave secret service agents and law enforcement officials who risked their own lives to protect my husband.”
On July 18, she made an appearance at the RNC, where Donald Trump thanked her for her letter.
