In 1993, Melania Trump shot an ad film aired on Slovenian TV where she played the role of the first female President of the United States, styled by Slovenian fashion brands. Cut to 2025, when her husband, President Donald Trump was sworn in for the second time- having denied America its first female President on both occasions.
My curiosity was piqued by the ‘severely hatted’ but composed and self-assured First Lady. I looked up books about her and found three. I finally settled on the book ‘The Art of Her Deal’ by 2003 Pulitzer winner Mary Jordan.
Here are our five #BookStrapping insights from the book.
1. Melania Trump’s journey from Slovenia (as Melanija Knavs) to the United States happened via Milan, Paris, Vienna and Germany. The first lady is projected as a modestly successful ‘commercial’ model, who operated in a very competitive environment. Commercial models did catalog work, as opposed to high-fashion models who did designer fashion shows and prestigious magazine covers.
2. Jordan has put in a lot of work into identifying people who were part of the First Lady’s former life, while getting barely a sentence or two from them. It seems nobody had much to say, possibly because Melania is described as ‘reserved’. There’s a rather bizarre description of a 1998 press conference in Paris, where journalists from Slovenia were flown down to meet ‘world-famous’ fashion model Melania Knauss. Journalists came not because they knew her, but because they didn’t want to decline a free visit to Paris.
3. 1998 is also the year she met her future husband, President Trump in New York, a city she came to in 1996. At the time, Melania Trump had a view of Czech super model Paulina Porizkova exercising in her own apartment, from her house. She was known as Melania Knauss at the time. Paolo Zampolli is credited with introducing Melania to Donald Trump. (Jordan thankfully limits the amount of space given in the book, to standard ‘PR’ responses from pro-Trump associates.)
4. Melania’s biggest advertising campaigns followed, including the British GQ feature in the year 2000. While Jordan speaks openly about Trump promoting Melania, she must be given credit for not taking anything away from Melania’s professionalism, as she worked her way through these opportunities. Melania never took her relationship for granted keeping herself aware and in contention to be make the most of what came her way. They married in 2005.
5. Thereafter, Melania’s jewelry business succeeded. But her failures are public too- especially the ‘caviar skincare line’. The book projects clearly that she was put in many awkward positions, having to answer questions arising from ‘polarizing’ statements made by her better half and even ask for Barack Obama’s birth certificate!
Fighting the public perception that she was a woolly-baa-lamb who needed to be rescued from online bullying which led to the #FreeMelania signs, to being seen as a powerful woman in her own right- this is an interesting book. All along, Melania comes across as determined and focussed on the future; someone who does not drag relationships beyond their expiry date! Someone who cannot be provoked to shoot her mouthoff or step back once she has taken a stand. After all, she’s a survivor, America’s 45th and 47th First Lady.
Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta is a columnist and bestselling biographer. She is credited with the internationally acclaimed Red Dot Experiment, a decadal six-nation study on how ‘culture impacts communication.’ Asia’s first reading coach, you can find her on Instagram @OfficialReetaGupta.