On January 20, 2025, when Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, we were getting a two-for-one bargain. You may already know some of what I am going to share today, but as a people, we are truly blessed to have Melania Trump as our nation’s First Lady. Of course, she also served in this role when President Trump served as our 45th President, and she was the first First Lady to be born outside of the United States. Unless you have read her New York Times bestselling book simply titled “Melania,” you may be interested in, as Paul Harvey used to say, “The Rest of the Story.”
I might add here, I have read her book twice, as I am truly impressed with her, and her role as First Lady of our great nation. She was born in the country known as the Republic of Slovenia. This small nation in central Europe with only 2.1 million people is bordered by Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia, with a small coastline on the Mediterranean Sea. But the real reason she came to America was due to the influence of her mother.
Here is what Melania says about her mother in the book: “My mother was the epitome of elegance. She often emphasized that ‘self-care’ was essential not only to a person’s well-being but also to being able to effectively care for others, and she instilled this conviction in me from an early age, teaching me the importance of attending to one’s appearance before venturing into the world. I have always found joy in the process of making myself presentable and getting ready. If I don’t take care of myself, she would say how would I know how to care for others?” The value of self-care remains a guiding principle in her life.
Using this principle as the foundation, here is how her life unfolded. First, she was blessed with a wonderfully shaped body and natural good looks. She soon found her way to walking the runways as a model, and she was good enough to get paid for it. As time passed, she moved out into her world, in ever increasing larger and larger venues. After a while she wanted the biggest and the best, and that meant, America and New York City, the fashion capital of the world. She was successful here as well. But then one night fate came along, and she found herself at a party also attended by Donald Trump, who was with another woman. And he said, “Hi, I’m Donald Trump,” gave her his card and his phone number with a request to call him.
Soon they were on their first date, in Donald’s black Mercedes, going to visit his property in upstate New York. After she became our First Lady, here is what impressed me. She has a heart for underprivileged children, and she developed a program to help them. She also did a complete renovation of our 200-year-old White House and all Patriotic Americans should be grateful to her.
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(Jim Davidson is an author, syndicated columnist, and Founder of the Bookcase for Every Child project. Since its inception in the Log Cabin Democrat in 1995, Jim’s column has been self-syndicated in over 375 newspapers in 35 states. (For a personalized copy of “Keep Your Fork” send $25 (includes P&H & TAX) to Jim Davidson, 2 Bentley Dr. Conway, AR 72034).