Melania Trump is in mourning following the passing of her mother, Amalija, who unfortunately died last week. The former First Lady was absent from the Trump family’s annual Christmas photo. Days after questions arose about her absence, Donald Trump disclosed that her mother was ill.
Shortly thereafter, Amalija passed away. Her funeral is scheduled to take place later this week in Florida. However, it appears that Donald Trump will not be in attendance. His trial date for E. Jean Carroll’s defamation trial coincides with the day of the funeral, and the former president requested a postponement of the trial. That request was denied, and Trump reacted angrily.
Melania Trump has been maintaining a very private life recently and has scarcely been seen at Mar-a-Lago. Her mother’s death is unlikely to increase her public activities. Looking back, the two had a very close relationship. Now, Donald Trump has broken his silence regarding his wife, and it seems she is not in a good state.
For many years, Melania Trump’s main focus has been on supporting their son, Barron Trump, while also managing her roles as First Lady and a businesswoman. When reflecting on her childhood, she always had the unwavering support of her parents, Viktor and Amalija, and this support continued even after she became the First Lady of the United States.
Amalija Knavs – the mother of Melania Trump
Viktor and Amalija Knavs have always been by her side. Many years ago, they also resided in the United States.
Amalija met Viktor in 1966 when he was the driver for a mayor in a nearby town. They fell in love and got married. Although Slovenia was part of Communist Yugoslavia and financial resources were scarce for many, Amalija and Viktor had a relatively good life.
“I grew up in a wonderful family and had a beautiful childhood,” Melania Trump has said. “My mother and father taught us the value of education, hard work, and family.”
Viktor was a car mechanic and chauffeur, and her mother, Amalija, worked as a pattern-maker in a clothing factory. Amalija had a deep passion for design and spent countless hours making clothes for her daughters, Melania and Ines.
“[Amalija] was very attractive,” Vladimira Tomsic, Melania’s classmate and later the head of a local hospital to which Melania donated $25,000 after marrying Donald Trump, told GQ in 2016. “She always had an elegant style.”
When she became a mother, Amalija sewed clothing for herself and her two daughters, Ines and Melania, which inspired the future First Lady. As Melania grew up, she designed her own outfits, and Amalija sewed them.
Viktor and Amalija took Melania and Ines on vacations to France, Italy, and Germany. Meanwhile, in their hometown of Sevnica, Melania’s parents still own the same house, which they visit several times a year.
Moved to the US to support Melania
Melania Trump attended the university in Ljubljana before pursuing her dream of becoming a model. In 1996, she left for New York City. There, she lived in a shared apartment at Gramercy Park. Given that she was 26 years old – much older than the average aspiring model at the time – it was a risky move as she was putting everything on the line.
Two years later – after her modeling career had taken off – she met Donald Trump, and her life was forever changed.
When Donald Trump became the President of the United States and Melania the First Lady, Amalija and Viktor were seen on several occasions at the White House, such as during their daughter’s RNC speech in the White House Rose Garden.
In her speech, Melania thanked her parents for their sacrifices.
“My parents worked extremely hard to ensure that our family could not only survive and thrive in America but also contribute to a nation that enables people to arrive with a dream and turn it into a reality,” she said. “I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to my mother and father for all they have done for our family. It is because of you that I am standing here today.”
Meanwhile, Viktor and Amalija now had the joy of being grandparents. According to Politico, Barron Trump has spent a significant amount of time with his grandparents and even speaks Slovenian.
According to Politico, they are “highly involved” in his life, and in 2017, the news outlet reported that Viktor and Amalija would “become more prominent figures around the White House.”
Amalija Knavs – mother of Melania Trump dead at 78
As reported by The New York Times, Melania’s parents “divided their time between an apartment in Trump Tower, Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, and the suite in the White House once used by Mrs. Obama’s mother.”
While Viktor and Amalija have been very supportive, caring, and present in Melania’s and Barron’s lives, sad news has emerged.
Melania Trump was absent from the Christmas photo at Mar-a-Lago, which would have been only the second time she had been publicly seen in months. Questions were raised about what had happened, but no one knew the details. However, Donald Trump revealed at his New Year’s Eve event at Mar-a-Lago that the reason for his wife’s absence was that her mother, Amalija, was “very ill.”
Sadly, on January 9, Trump announced that Amalija had passed away at the age of 78.
Melania Trump wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “Amalija Knavs was a strong woman who always carried herself with grace, warmth, and dignity. She was completely dedicated to her husband, daughters, grandson, and son-in-law. We will miss her beyond measure and continue to respect and cherish her legacy.”
Amalija Knavs was actively involved in Melania’s and Ines’s lives and spent a great deal of time with her grandson, Barron. However, little is known about her personal life and her character.
Now, Melania Trump’s former White House stylist, Hervé Pierre, has spoken about Amalija and his few encounters with her.
Melania Trump’s former stylist reveals details of Amalija Knavs’ life
In an interview with WWD, Melania’s former stylist, Hervé Pierre, said she had an interest in fashion and cooking, describing the late mother of the former First Lady as “extremely charming” and an “excellent cook.”
“She had a fashion sense very similar to her daughter’s. She was definitely not into frivolous things,” Pierre said. “She loved fashion. She often came upstairs to take a look at the clothes I had brought before I met with Melania.”
While Amalija had inspired her daughter’s fashion interests, she never offered Pierre fashion advice or interfered in the decision-making process.
“My meetings with Melania were always just the two of us. We were highly focused on the schedule and finding the perfect look for the occasion,” he said. “We were not following trends or flipping through fashion magazines. It was a business-oriented approach.”
One day, while Pierre was at the White House, Amalija asked him to go to the White House vegetable garden to pick potatoes and carrots. He selected them by “digging them out of the ground.”
“Later that night I was enjoying a homemade soup made from the vegetables from the White House vegetable garden. It was very stylish, delicious, and extremely fresh,” the stylist recalled.
Amalija Knavs’ funeral will be held on Thursday, January 18, in Florida, according to the Daily Mail. It is not clear exactly who will attend the funeral, but it now seems that Donald Trump, who wishes to be there, may not be able to.
The former president – who won a landslide victory in the Iowa Republican presidential caucuses on Monday – is facing up to $10 million in defamation damages to columnist E. Jean Carroll after a jury last year found he sexually assaulted her.
Donald Trump denied delay of trial to attend Amalija Knavs’ funeral
As reported by the NY Post, Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, sent a letter to Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Kaplan, stating that he planned to attend the trial but would like to attend Amalija Knavs’s funeral first.
“Given that this is one of life’s sad and unexpected events, President Trump would greatly appreciate this minor accommodation during this difficult time,” Habba wrote to Kaplan. “I cannot imagine how this would harm the Plaintiff.”
However, the federal judge has rejected Donald Trump’s request to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral and delay the trial. In a letter, Kaplan writes that the court “expresses its condolences.”
“Mr. Trump is free to attend the trial, the funeral, or any combination of both, as he desires,” he wrote.
Furthermore, the federal judge said Trump’s lawyers’ request was made late Friday afternoon, just before “the start of the [Martin Luther King Day] holiday weekend.”
E. Jean Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan – who is not related to federal Judge Lewis Kaplan – accused Trump of using Amalija Knavs’ death as a delaying tactic.
“While we are very sorry for the Trumps’ loss, we cannot agree to a complete postponement of the trial at this time,” Kaplan wrote Habba on Friday, as reported by the NY Post.
“Ms. Carroll and our witnesses are prepared to proceed as scheduled on Tuesday, and any delay would be highly prejudicial, especially as your client is almost certain to claim scheduling conflicts again and continues to defame Ms. Carroll on a near-daily basis in connection with his presidential campaign.”
Donald Trump says Melania Trump is “devastated”
Before the Iowa caucuses, Donald Trump spoke to a crowd in Indianola, expressing his wish to be by Melania’s side for her mother’s funeral. At the same time, he called Judge Lewis Kaplan an “animal.”
“My wife’s mother, who was an amazing and a truly beautiful person inside and out – an incredible woman – she just died,” Trump said, as reported by the Daily Mail.
“And my wife was extremely devastated by that. I have a trial going on, a completely bogus trial. And we asked the judge if I could take a day off for a funeral for my mother-in-law, who was also very close to me. And he said, ‘No.’ These people are animals. Can you imagine that?”
The former president continued, “I want to support my wife, who will be standing at her mother’s funeral, a very special woman. Is she supposed to stand there alone? No, no, I’ll be there,” he insisted.
Melania Trump has continued to keep a very low profile and stay out of the spotlight. In the weeks before her mother died, members at Mar-a-Lago rarely saw her, and many wondered about her whereabouts.
“She hardly ever leaves Mar-a-Lago. It’s a strange, secluded life they have in that place,” Laurence Leamer, author of Mar-A-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump’s Presidential Palace, told the Telegraph. “Nobody knows where she is. It’s like a mystery. It’s definitely a topic of conversation.”
Melania Trump ready to “leave her mark on history”
Meanwhile, a PageSix source indicates that things will change as Donald Trump aims to regain the presidency.
Trump and his family are so confident that he will become president again that insiders at Mar-a-Lago say he has reached an agreement with [wife] Melania [Trump] to increase her high-level diplomatic appearances in 2024.”
Another source told the news outlet, “Melania realizes it’s her opportunity to join the ranks of historic first ladies and make a lasting impact… She feels more prepared for her potential role the second time around.”