First Lady Melania Trump's Mom & Dad Become US Citizens

Ben Kennedy
08-09-2018

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First lady Melania Trump's parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, were sworn in as United States citizens on Thursday.

The family lawyer confirms the Slovenian couple took the citizenship oath in New York City.

"It went well and they are very grateful and appreciative of this wonderful day for their family," the couple's immigration attorney, Michael Wildes, said.

Viktor, 74, and Amalija, 73, had been living as permanent residents in the US.

The Associated Press reports that since Melania moved to Washington in 2017, the couple has been seen at the White House, at Mar-a-Lago and boarding Air Force One. While they reside for the most part in New York, AP notes that they've also spent an ample amount of time in the nation's capital helping to take care of their grandson, 12-year-old Barron Trump.

Their daughter, Melania, was raised under Communist rule in the town of Sevnica where her father worked as a car dealer and her mom in a textile factory.

In 1996, she moved to New York City where she worked as a model and met Donald Trump two years later.

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About The Author

Ben
Kennedy

Ben Kennedy is an Emmy Award-winning White House correspondent for CBN News in Washington, D.C. He has more than a decade of reporting experience covering breaking news nationwide. He's traveled cross country covering the President and scored exclusive interviews with lawmakers and White House officials. Kennedy spent seven years reporting for WPLG, the ABC affiliate in Miami, Florida. While there he reported live from Kingston, Jamaica, as Hurricane Matthew hit the island. He was the first journalist to interview Diana Nyad moments after her historic swim from Cuba to Key West. He reported
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