Melania Trump is set to become First Lady for a second time – a far cry from her humble upbringing in a small town in Slovenia. From the daughter of a car salesman and a textile factory worker living in the sleepy industrial town of Sevnica to the wife of a billionaire businessman and two-time president, Melania’s journey is nothing short of rags to riches.
![[At just five years old, Melania was recruited to model in the the catalogues of the clothing manufacturer that employed her mother. She's seen modeling the clothes as a child (center)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/16/15/94087003-14284289-At_just_five_years_old_Melania_was_recruited_to_model_in_the_the-a-10_1737042761184.jpg)
As Donald Trump is sworn in as president for a second term on January 20, Melania has shared she will be in Washington, DC as needed – splitting her time between New York, where her son Barron Trump is a student at New York University, and Palm Beach in Florida.
![[Her mother Amalija (left) and her father Viktor (right), seen at the White House in 2018, worked at a clothing manufacturer and a car dealership, respectively]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/16/15/94098607-14284289-Her_mother_Amalija_left_and_her_father_Viktor_right_seen_at_the_-a-15_1737042761199.jpg)
'I will be in the White House. When I need to be in New York, I will be in New York. When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach,' she told Ainsley Earhardt on Fox & Friends. 'My first priority is, you know, to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife. And once we are in on January 20, you serve the country.'.
![[When Melania was born, Slovenia was a part of the communist country Yugoslavia under President Josip Tito, before declaring its independence in 1991]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/16/15/94088801-14284289-When_Melania_was_born_Slovenia_was_a_part_of_the_communist_count-a-16_1737042761200.jpg)
Before she married the then-real estate developer and Celebrity Apprentice star in 2005, and gave birth to their only child Barron in 2006, Melania broke apart from her childhood in a communist state to become a successful fashion model in New York. Now, FEMAIL has recapped Melania’s transition from her humble beginnings to her rise to the White House.
![[Melania lived with her parents and her sister Ines in a block of Communist-era apartments (seen)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/16/15/94086601-14284289-Melania_lived_with_her_parents_and_her_sister_Ines_in_a_block_of-a-12_1737042761186.jpg)
