Long before their White House years, Donald and Melania Trump’s love story began with an unexpected moment in a Manhattan nightclub — and a surprising rejection. In her new biography Melania, the First Lady reflects on their first meeting in September 1998 during New York Fashion Week. Recently returned from Paris and exhausted, Melania almost declined a friend’s invitation to a party at the famous Kit Kat Club. But curiosity won out.

The venue was filled with models, designers, and celebrities. When she arrived, she noticed her friend greeting a man approaching with a blonde woman beside him. “‘I’m Donald Trump,’ he said,” Melania recalls. She recognized the name but knew little else. Despite being accompanied, Trump focused his attention on Melania, asking about her life, travels, and her native Slovenia.

“His eyes were full of curiosity and interest,” she writes, describing his energy as magnetic. When his companion stepped away, Trump asked for Melania’s phone number. She declined — then flipped the moment in her favor. “You give me your number instead,” she told him.

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Surprised but impressed, Trump had his bodyguard write down his number and handed it to her. “Call me,” he said. Melania left the next day for a Caribbean photo shoot but couldn’t stop thinking about him. Though they didn’t begin dating right away, that brief encounter sparked something lasting. A year later, their relationship began.

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They moved in together in 2002, got engaged in 2004, and married in 2005. Their son Barron was born the following year. As Melania reflects now, their story — which led them twice to the White House — began simply with confidence, timing, and one unexpected decision that changed everything.