Donald Trump pays emotional tribute to Melania’s late mother after her death

10 January 2024 , 09:19

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Former First Lady Melania Trump's mother Amalija Knavs has died (Image: Getty Images)

Tributes have been paid to the mother-in-law of Donald Trump after she passed away at the age of 78 following an illness.

Writing about the death of Melania Trump’s mother Amalija Knavs on his social-media platform Truth Social, the former president said that "it was a very sad night" for the whole of his family. Ms Trump announced on X (formerly Twitter) with "deep sadness" that on Tuesday her mother had passed away.

Mr Trump described Knavs as a "great and beautiful mother" who will be missed by the family and added: "This is a very sad night for the entire Trump family!!! Melania’s great and beautiful mother, Amalija, has just gone to a beautiful place in the sky. She was an incredible woman, and will be missed far beyond words!"

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Mr Trump described Knavs as a "great and beautiful mother"

Mr Trump also shared a picture in which the two were posing with smiles on their faces. In explaining his wife's absence from the family’s Christmas photos and New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago, he had previously told supporters that his wife was busy caring for her mother in a "great hospital" in Miami. He had added that the situation was "a tough one, very tough one".

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Donald Trump paid tribute to Melania’s late mother on Truth Social

The former first couple had a very close relationship with Amalija and father Victor Knavs. During Mr Trump’s presidency, Knavs and her husband lived in New York, but at times also lived in the upper floors of the White House and made occasional appearances. Knavs was also part of a ceremony in 2018 where the first lady debuted her "Be Best" public awareness campaign to help children.

The former president and his wife are grieving over the loss of Melania's mother (AFP via Getty Images)

Ms Trump did not reveal the cause of her mother’s death, but added in tribute: "Amalija Knavs was a strong woman who always carried herself with grace, warmth, and dignity. 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."

Knavs was born in Austria in 1945 and moved to post-war Slovenia where she grew up during a time of turmoil for the eastern European country, which was in the process of being wrenched out of Nazi occupation and annexed into the socialist republic of Yugoslavia.

She and her husband Viktor raised Ms Trump in the town of Sevnica, living in a state-run housing complex and working as a patternmaker at a children’s clothing factory, while her husband worked as a car salesman. They had their first daughter Ines, who now lives in Manhattan, in 1968 and gave birth to Ms Trump two years later.

The family were close as this Christmas portrait of Amalija Knavs, Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Barron Trump, Santa Claus, and Viktor Knavs, shows (Getty Images)

She went on to study in Ljubljana. The two sisters then moved to Milan to launch their modelling careers before the younger one came to the US in 1996.

Ms Trump sponsored her parents to enter the US as they took the oath of office to become citizens at a New York City courthouse in 2018. However, their lawyer had said that the two applied for their citizenship on their own and were not given special treatment.

Paul Donald