Melania Trump to welcome new citizens to America in rare appearance at naturalization ceremony

Melania Trump will make a rare public appearance on Friday to welcome new US citizens during a naturalization ceremony at the National Archives.

The former model was born in Slovenia in 1970 and became a US citizen in 2006 before becoming only the country's second foreign-born first lady.

She spent her childhood in the sleepy industrial town of Sevnica in a modest apartment.

Now living in the palatial Mar-a-Lago and spending four years in the White House, she will channel her experiences migrating to the US and talk about how she immediately “found success.”

Melania Trump made a rare appearance at Rossalyn Carter's funeral last month, along with former first ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton

Former first lady Melania Trump arrives for a tribute to former first lady Rosalynn Carter at Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University on Tuesday, November 28, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia

She will tell the newcomers about the importance of the “responsibility of citizenship” and the importance of being part of the “democratic process,” according to Fox news.

“As a naturalized citizen herself, Mrs. Trump looks forward to telling her story and being part of this momentous occasion for these new American citizens,” her office said in a statement when the appearance was announced.

In her youth, Melania's father Viktor was a member of the Communist Party under Yugoslav dictator Marshal Tito, and when Melania grew up the family lived in a series of modest apartments. Melania's mother Amalija worked as a manager in a textile factory.

She started modeling in Europe and moved to New York City in 1996. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2006 and subsequently sponsored her parents to become a U.S. citizen.

Friday's naturalization event comes nearly two years after the National Archives and Record Administration asked the Justice Department to investigate Donald Trump's handling of documents during his tenure in the White House.

The investigation led to an indictment against the former president, who has pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges. The trial in the case is expected to begin in May in Florida.

Donald Trump has promised a widespread expansion of hardline immigration policies if he is re-elected in 2024, which would limit both legal and illegal immigration.

During the Trump administration, Melania seemed disengaged from immigration issues — especially after her controversial visit to a migrant detention center at the southern border in 2018, when she delivered her now infamous “I really don't care, do I?” jacket.

Melania Trump has largely avoided the public eye since leaving Washington in January 2021. She has been featured in social media posts from guests who visited the Trump clubs at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida; and in Bedminster, New Jersey.

She made a rare appearance at Rossalyn Carter's funeral last month, along with former first ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton.

As first lady, Melania Trump visited a migrant detention center on the southern border in 2018, where she delivered her now infamous “I really don't care, do I?” jacket

Notably, Melania Trump has not stood by Donald Trump's side as he wages his many legal battles in New York, Georgia and federal courts.

And while Melania Trump has said she supports her husband's bid for a second term in the White House, she hasn't appeared at one of his campaign events in more than a year — not since he announced his 2024 bid for Mar. -a- Lago on November 15, 2022.

In September, Donald Trump suggested that his wife would soon join him on the road.

Trump suggested his wife could join him on the campaign trail in the near future.

“If necessary, but pretty quickly,” he said on NBC's Meet the Press. “She is a private person, a wonderful person, a very confident person and she loves our country very much. …And honestly, I like to keep her away from it. It's so dirty and so mean.'