Amalija Knavs, the mother of former First Lady Melania Trump, has died. She was 78.
Melania announced her “beloved” mother’s death in a heartfelt tweet on Tuesday night.
“Amalija Knavs was a strong woman who always carried herself with grace, warmth, and dignity,” she wrote. “She was entirely devoted to her husband, daughters, grandson, and son-in-law. We will miss her beyond measure and continue to honor and love her legacy.”
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No cause was given, but Knavs had been “very ill” for some time, according to a speech Donald Trump reportedly gave to attendees of his New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago.
According to People, the former president acknowledged both his wife and mother-in-law’s absence, saying, “Melania—great first lady, so popular, the people love her—she’s now in a hospital with her mother. Her mother, Amalija, is very ill, but hopefully she’ll be recovering.”
Knavs and her husband, Melania’s 78-year-old father Viktor, became naturalized U.S. citizens in 2018. Melania was their sponsor, obtaining them residency through “chain migration,” a process Trump repeatedly railed against while in office.
“CHAIN MIGRATION must end now!” he tweeted in late 2017. “Some people come in, and they bring their whole family with them, who can be truly evil. NOT ACCEPTABLE!”
The couple spent the final few years of Knavs’ life at Mar-a-Lago, People reported earlier this month, but they also lived for stints at the White House and in a Trump Tower penthouse in New York City. They frequently traveled with and were photographed alongside the Trumps.
Born in 1945, Knavs grew up under a communist regime in Slovenia, which was then one of Yugoslavia’s six constituent republics. It only gained its independence in 1991—two decades after the birth of Knavs’ younger daughter, Melanija Knavs, then on the cusp of changing her name to Melania Knauss and launching her modeling career.
The Knavs lived in Sevnica, a railroad town of around 5,000 people. Amalija Knavs worked in pattern development at a factory producing children’s clothing, encouraging Melania’s burgeoning love of fashion and design.
Viktor, who’d been a mayoral chauffeur when he’d met her in 1966, was a card-carrying member of the Communist Party who worked as a car salesman. The Knavs were relatively wealthy members of the community and their matriarch was always dressed well, a friend told GQ in 2016. “She was always very fancy.”
Even after moving to the U.S., Amalija and Viktor would retain their ties to Sevnica, where GQ reported they still visited several times a year.
Melania moved to the U.S. in 1996, meeting Trump at a party two years later. She became a citizen in 2006, a year after marrying the then-mogul.
At a naturalization ceremony at the National Archives last month, Melania recalled she’d felt “a tremendous sense of belonging” after taking the Oath of Allegiance, adding that she hoped the 25 people being naturalized at the event were “blanketed with similar feelings of comfort right now.”
It was a rare public appearance for the former first lady, who has largely shunned the spotlight since her husband left office. She has also yet to make an appearance on the 2024 campaign trail alongside Trump, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination.
Knavs is also survived by her elder daughter, Ines Knauss, and her grandson, Barron Trump.
