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Melania Trump is the first presidential spouse to be born outside the US for 91 years
The First Lady of the United States has always played a prominent role in the political and social life of America dating back to the 18th century.
Although the role has never been officially defined, she is expected to champion social causes and campaigns, manage the White House and represent the President at official occasions.
So what can America expect from its newest FLOTUS - Melania Trump?
:: Who is Melania?
The Slovenian former model was born in 1970 in communist Yugoslavia, and becomes the first presidential spouse to be born outside the US since Lousia Adams, wife of John Quincy Adams, who was born in England.
She is the daughter of Viktor Knavs, a car and motorcycle dealer and a member of the Slovenian Communist Party, and Amalija Knvas - a patternmaker for children's clothing.
Mrs Trump has one sister, Ines, and an older half-brother she is not believed to have met.
She grew up in an apartment in a concrete tower block in Sevnica and went to the Secondary School of Design and Photography in Ljubljana.
:: How Trump Won The White House - a Sky News documentary at 9.30pm
The 46-year-old began her modelling career when she was 16, and at the age of 18 signed with a modelling agency in Milan, Italy.
She has appeared on numerous magazine covers including Harper's Bazaar and Vanity Fair, and once posed naked on a white rug for British magazine GQ.
Mrs Trump has her own jewellery and skin care line and speaks five languages - Slovenian, Serbian, English, French and German.
:: How did they meet?
The 5ft 11in former model met Donald Trump at a Fashion Week party in New York in September 1998, when he was separated from his second wife Marla Marples.
They were engaged in 2004, and were married in a church ceremony in Florida the following year.
Mrs Trump's elaborate wedding dress was said to cost more than $100,000 (£81,000) and Hillary and Bill Clinton were among the guests at their reception in Mr Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.
In March 2006, she gave birth to their son Barron, who apparently loves wearing a suit and tie and playing golf with his father.
Melania Trump got her Green Card in 2001 after moving to the US five years earlier and became a US citizen in 2006, a year after her marriage.
:: Wha
She has insisted she is not shy about giving her husband political advice, despite avoiding the limelight for much of the presidential campaign.
In an interview with CNN, she said: "I give him my opinions, many, many times.
"I don't agree with everything he says, but, you know, that is normal. I'm my own person, I tell him what I think. And I think that's very important in a relationship."
She has stood by her husband after video footage emerged of his boasting about groping women, but made headlines in July after she was accused of plagiarising parts of a speech made by Michelle Obama in 2008.
Image Caption:Melania Trump waves after her wedding ceremony in Florida in 2005
When asked by The New York Times in 1999 what her role would be if her husband became president, she said she would be "very traditional, like Betty Ford or Jackie Kennedy".
:: What will her campaign issues be?
Melania Trump has said she will campaign against cyberbullying because she feels the culture on social media has become "too mean and too tough" and is filled with insults based on "looks and intelligence".
She has also said she would like to see her husband - a prolific user of social media - give up "the Tweeting".
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