Melania Trump looks unrecognizable in modeling photos taken more than a decade before she met Donald: ‘I see Barron,’ commenter says
Long before Melania Trump became one of the most recognizable women in the world, she was a teenager in Slovenia posing barefoot for a photographer who had spotted her by chance.
Black-and-white images from one of the future first lady’s first professional photo shoots in 1987 show a fresh-faced Melania — then known as Melanija Knavs — smiling broadly and trying out poses for the camera more than a decade before she met Donald Trump.
The resurfaced throwback shots have left some social media users struggling to recognize the now-56-year-old first lady.
Social media users react to Melania’s early photos
But one familiar face immediately came to mind for others.
“I see Barron,” one commenter wrote, referring to Melania and Donald’s 20-year-old son, Barron Trump.
“I don’t see her in these photos at all,” another social media user wrote after seeing images of the future first lady in black-and-white snapshots at the beginning of her modeling career.
Others agreed about the family resemblance spotted in the young Melania’s face.
“She looks like Barron,” another commenter wrote.
Plenty of people were complimentary. “A sweet young girl,” one person observed.
Another wrote, “Always been beautiful,” while yet another commenter added, “She’s super elegant.”
Still another commenter marveled at the difference between Melania then and now, writing, “I pray to God I have the glow up Melania Trump has had.”
How Melania was discovered as a teenager
Melania’s modeling career began by chance when Slovenian photographer Stane Jerko spotted her waiting for a friend after a fashion show in Ljubljana in 1987, he later recalled to GQ in 2016.
He invited the shy teenager to his studio, but modeling was hardly her priority at the time.
“School was the most important thing for her,” Stane told the magazine.
Melania eventually showed up at his studio with her own clothes, including leggings, leotards and jeans. Though he remembered her as initially reserved and tense, he said she quickly learned how to pose in front of his camera.
A few weeks later, he photographed the 16-year-old in catalog clothes for the black-and-white shoot.
There’s also a practical explanation for why she was barefoot in the images. “I didn’t have shoes for her because she had very big feet,” Stane told GQ. (She reportedly wears a size 9.)
Despite the glamorous career that followed, Melania wasn’t much of a party girl during those early years, according to the photographer. Stane recalled that she was focused on her education and didn’t drink, smoke or party.
From Slovenia to New York to Washington, D.C.
Melania went on to model in Europe before moving to New York City in 1996.
Two years later, she met Donald at a party during New York Fashion Week. They began dating and by December 1999, the model was already being asked what life might look like if the real estate mogul ever made it to the White House.
ABC News journalist Don Dahler interviewed Melania, who used the professional name Melania Knauss at the time, and asked how she felt about people who believed she was dating Donald because he was wealthy.
“People don’t know me,” she responded. “People who talk like this, they don’t know me.”
Melania said money and possessions couldn’t replace a relationship. “You can’t sleep, or to hug, or to talk with beautiful things, with beautiful apartment, beautiful plane, beautiful cars, beautiful houses,” she said. “You can’t do that. You could feel very empty.”
Asked if she could picture herself as first lady, Melania said she could. “I would be very traditional, like Jackie Kennedy,” she said, explaining that she would support Donald and take on social obligations.
The couple married in Palm Beach, Fla., in 2005 and welcomed Barron the following year.
Melania has denied altering her appearance
The difference between Melania’s teenage modeling photos and her appearance decades later has also fueled speculation about whether she’s undergone any cosmetic procedures.
One social media commenter went so far as to joke, “That’s a face transplant!”
Melania, however, has previously insisted she hasn’t had cosmetic work done.
“I didn’t make any changes,” she told GQ in 2016 as Donald was running for president. “A lot of people say I am using all the procedures for my face. I didn’t do anything. I live a healthy life, I take care of my skin and my body. I’m against Botox, I’m against injections; I think it’s damaging your face, damaging your nerves. It’s all me. I will age gracefully, as my mom does.”