Melania Trump grew up in Sevnica, Slovenia. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images ; Jure Makovec/AFP via Getty Images
Melania Trump grew up in Sevnica, Slovenia, a small town of around 17,670 people.
Her father was a car salesman, and her mother worked in a local textile factory.
Sevnica’s tourism doubled when she became first lady for the first time.
Before Melania Trump became a fashion model and first lady of the United States, she was Melanija Knavs, the Slovenian daughter of a car salesman and a textile factory worker.
As the first naturalized US citizen to serve as first lady and the second foreign-born first lady in US history, Trump’s hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia, has become a tourist destination attracting visitors to see where she spent her early years.
Here are some Sevnica landmarks from Trump’s childhood.
Melania Trump grew up in Sevnica, Slovenia.
This general view shows the US First Lady’s hometown of Sevnica, on October 30, 2020. – In contrast to the enthusiasm evident four years ago in Melania Trump’s homeland Slovenia as she ascended to the status of US First Lady, now even her hometown has cooled on the country’s most famous daughter. In 2016 Slovenia’s media followed the US presidential campaign with bated breath, but now the coronavirus pandemic is dominating headlines and crowding out coverage of whether Melania will stay in the White House alongside her husband President Donald Trump after Tuesday’s US election. JURE MAKOVEC/AFP via Getty Images
Trump was born in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, on April 26, 1970.
She spent her childhood in Sevnica, a small town 30 miles away.
Sevnica is located along the Sava River in central Slovenia.
This general view shows the US First Lady’s hometown of Sevnica, on October 30, 2020. – In contrast to the enthusiasm evident four years ago in Melania Trump’s homeland Slovenia as she ascended to the status of US First Lady, now even her hometown has cooled on the country’s most famous daughter. In 2016 Slovenia’s media followed the US presidential campaign with bated breath, but now the coronavirus pandemic is dominating headlines and crowding out coverage of whether Melania will stay in the White House alongside her husband President Donald Trump after Tuesday’s US election. JURE MAKOVEC/AFP via Getty Images
It has a population of 17,672, according to data collected by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia in 2023.
When Melania Trump was born, Slovenia was a communist country ruled by President Josip Tito and known as Yugoslavia.
SEVNICA, SLOVENIA – JANUARY 18: A general view of Sevnica where Melania Trump, lived as a child ahead of the inauguration of USA President Donald Trump on JANUARY 18, 2017 in Sevnica, Slovenia. Awakening/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Slovenia became independent in 1991.
Before Trump’s rise to fame as a model and then FLOTUS, Sevnica was known for its furniture and clothing factories, as well as its annual salami festival.
A picture taken on April 9, 2016 shows a general view of the hometown of Donald Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, in Sevnica. Until recently, Sevnica was best known for its lingerie and furniture factories and a charming 900-year-old castle. But that was before Donald Trump launched his bid to become US president. JURE MAKOVEC/AFP/AFP via Getty Images
Sevnica produces over 150 kinds of salami, a feat celebrated at its annual Salamiada festival.
Now, Sevnica produces a salami named after the first lady.
Salami named First Lady is seen during the presentation of touristic products in Melania Trump’s hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia January 20, 2017. Srdjan Zivulovic/Reuters
Sevnica’s tourism doubled in the year before Donald Trump’s first term as interest in Melania Trump grew, a tour guide told Reuters in January 2017.
The small town capitalized on its claim to fame as the former FLOTUS’ hometown, offering tours, foods, and souvenirs named after her.
For 2017 as a whole, the number of foreigners visiting Slovenia jumped 17% when compared to the previous year, with a total of 3.4 million visitors, Reuters reported in January 2018.
The number of visitors has risen in the years since, with just under 7 million visitors in 2025, The Slovenian Times reported.
As a child, Trump — then known as Melanija Knavs — lived in this block of Communist-era apartments.
SEVNICA, SLOVENIA – JANUARY 18: A general view of apartment block where Melania Trump, lived as a child ahead of the inauguration of USA President Donald Trump on JANUARY 18, 2017 in Sevnica, Slovenia. Awakening/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Her father, Viktor Knavs, worked as a car salesman. Her mother, Amalija, worked at a local textile factory.
Trump has one sister, Ines Knauss, and a half-brother, Denis Cigelnjak.
Trump attended Sevnica’s Savo Kladnik Elementary School.
This general view shows Elementary School of Savo Kladnik Sevnica in US First Lady’s hometown of Sevnica, on October 30, 2020. – In contrast to the enthusiasm evident four years ago in Melania Trump’s homeland Slovenia as she ascended to the status of US First Lady, now even her hometown has cooled on the country’s most famous daughter. In 2016 Slovenia’s media followed the US presidential campaign with bated breath, but now the coronavirus pandemic is dominating headlines and crowding out coverage of whether Melania will stay in the White House alongside her husband President Donald Trump after Tuesday’s US election. JURE MAKOVEC/AFP via Getty Images
Mirjana Jelancic, a friend of Trump’s who went on to become principal of the school, told ABC News in 2016 that the young Trump was “an angel” and “a very good student.”
Her family later moved to a modest house on Ribniki Street.
This general view shows a former home of US First Lady Melania Trump in Sevnica, on October 30, 2020. – In contrast to the enthusiasm evident four years ago in Melania Trump’s homeland Slovenia as she ascended to the status of US First Lady, now even her hometown has cooled on the country’s most famous daughter. In 2016 Slovenia’s media followed the US presidential campaign with bated breath, but now the coronavirus pandemic is dominating headlines and crowding out coverage of whether Melania will stay in the White House alongside her husband President Donald Trump after Tuesday’s US election. JURE MAKOVEC/AFP via Getty Images
When Trump and her sister, Ines, were in high school, the Knavs family moved to Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital. There, Trump was scouted by photographer Stane Jerko and signed with a modeling agency when she was 18.
Trump remained connected to her hometown over the years, donating $25,000 to a medical center there in 2005.
SEVNICA, SLOVENIA – JANUARY 18: A view of the Medica Center which received a donation from Melania Trump on JANUARY 18, 2017 in Sevnica, Slovenia. Awakening/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Trump made the donation after her wedding in 2005, The New York Times reported.
Residents of Sevnica celebrated President Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 election.
Residents of Sevnica, hometown of Melania Trump, wife of Republican presidential elect Donald Trump, raise glasses as they celebrate the victory of Donald Trump in the race for the White House in Sevnica, Slovenia on November 9, 2016. Republican Donald Trump has won the US presidency with at least 290 electoral votes, securing more than the 270 he needed to succeed Barack Obama. JURE MAKOVEC/AFP via Getty Images
Trump is the second first lady born outside the US. The first was John Quincy Adams’ wife, Louisa Catherine Adams, who was born in London.
Sevnica locals also gathered to watch both of Donald Trump’s inaugurations.
Locals toasted Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration in Sevnica, Slovenia. Srdjan Zivulovic/Reuters
The Rotary Klub Sevnica held events in honor of Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2017 and 2025. Proceeds from the 2025 event went toward a youth scholarship fund, the Slovenian outlet Dolenjski List reported.
American artist Brad Downey commissioned a monument of Trump from Slovenian sculptor Ales “Maxi” Zupevc in 2019 that was erected in a field outside Sevnica.
A picture taken on July 5, 2019 shows what conceptual artist Ales ‘Maxi’ Zupevc claims is the first ever monument of Melania Trump, set in the fields near town of Sevnica, US First Ladys hometown. – After Melania cake, Melania honey, and even Melania slippers, the Slovenian hometown of the US’s first lady will now boast a statue of its most famous daughter — albeit one which has faced decidedly mixed reviews. The life-size statue on the outskirts of Sevnica was inaugurated on July 5, 2019. JURE MAKOVEC/AFP via Getty Images
The wooden statue, modeled after Trump’s blue Ralph Lauren inauguration dress, garnered mixed reviews.
A bronze statue replaced the original wooden one after it was vandalized and burned in 2020.
SEVNICA, SLOVENIA – SEPTEMBER 15: A bronze replica depicting US First Lady Melania Trump, made by US artist Brad Downey, is seen after its unveiling in a field near US First Lady’s hometown Sevnica, Slovenia on September 15, 2020. The statue of US First Lady Melania Trump is a replica of an original wooden statue made by Slovenian artist Ales ‘Maxi’ Zupevc, which was inaugurated on July 4, 2019 and later burned by unknown perpetrators on July 5, 2020. Ales Beno/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A plaque at the site says the new bronze statue is “dedicated to the eternal memory of a monument to Trump which stood in this location from 2019-2020.”
Trump, the first naturalized US citizen to serve as first lady, has spoken about her immigration journey.
A sign reading “Welcome to the hometown of the first lady” in Sevnica, Slovenia. Jack Taylor/Getty Images
At a 2023 naturalization ceremony held at the National Archives in Washington, DC, Trump said that becoming a US citizen is a “life-altering experience that takes time, determination, and sometimes even tremendous strength.” She also recalled navigating a “labyrinth” of paperwork to obtain a worker visa during her modeling career.
“I recall feeling a tremendous sense of pride and belonging after I recited the US oath of allegiance, as the pathway to citizenship is arduous,” she said.
