Amalija Knavs, mother of former First Lady of the United States Melania Trump, has died at the age of 78, her daughter and son-in-law announced on social media.
“It is with deep sadness that I announce the death of my beloved mother,” Melania Trump wrote Tuesday on X (formerly Twitter), describing “a strong woman who always carried herself with grace, warmth and dignity.”
“She was an incredible woman, who will be missed terribly,” her husband, former Republican President Donald Trump, said on his own social network Truth Social.
Amalija Knavs, of Slovenian origin, moved with her husband to the United States where her daughter, a model, lived.
After several years, she acquired American citizenship in 2018 with her husband, while Donald Trump was president.
Both benefited from a family reunification process, thanks to the sponsor of their daughter Melania, according to American media.
This system was strongly criticized by his Republican son-in-law, then in the White House.
Currently campaigning for the November presidential election, Donald Trump has further strengthened his anti-immigration rhetoric.
Naturalized American in 2006, Melania Trump became in 2017 the First American lady to be born outside the United States, since Louisa Adams in 1825.
