Born Melanija Knavs in the tiny Slovenian town of Sevnica, Melania’s journey to global recognition is anything but ordinary. Long before her marriage to Donald Trump in 2005, she worked tirelessly to build a modeling career that took her from the streets of Ljubljana to Paris, Milan, and ultimately, New York City.

Melania meets Trump
Melania and the future president first crossed paths in 1998 at a Fashion Week party at the Kit Kat Club in Manhattan, hosted by Italian businessman Paolo Zampolli, who had signed her to his modeling agency, ID Model Management.

Despite Trump arriving at the party with a date, he was reportedly captivated by Melania and asked for her number.

But, according to her best friend Edit Molnar, the model was “turned off” by the real estate mogul and dating him was “absolutely out of the question.”