The town in Slovenia too small for Melania

THE tiny town in Slovenia where Melania Trump grew up is basking in the glow of her impending role as first lady of the US.

It is also hoping for a visit by the former model and her billionaire husband.

The people of Sevnica are proud that one of their own will be the first foreign-born first lady since Louisa Adams, the London-born wife of John Quincy Adams, who was president in the 1820s. They seem less enthusiastic, however, about the election of Donald Trump.

Standing next to one of the US flags that now festoon the small town, Srecko Ocvirk, the mayor, said: “It’s a tribute just to Melania. I would not have voted for her husband.”

Nena Bedek, a friend who studied with Melania, said: “I’m happy for her, although less so for the victory of her husband.”

Despite their misgivings, the 6 000 inhabitants of Sevnica are keen that the Trumps visit, though they recognise that they may have to be patient.

“There are four years ahead of us and the government is pushing for an official visit,” the mayor said. “Melania’s mother, Amalija, has promised me that her daughter will return in private, to meet her relatives and friends.”

Melania was born Melanija Knavs in 1970, when Slovenia was part of communist Yugoslavia under Tito. She later changed her surname to the more German-sounding Knauss, before becoming Trump’s third wife in 2005.

Her mother worked in a factory producing children’s clothes and her father, Viktor, sold car parts. The family lived in an apartment block but later moved to a two-storey house near the Sava River, on the edge of the town.

She left Sevnica, which has an attractive historic centre and castle, as soon as she could, forging a career as a model, first in Milan and then in the US.

Maja Kosmeri, a childhood friend, told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica: “As young girls, we’d listen to Western pop music. One day Melania was dancing to a song by Boy George and she said to me, ‘As soon as I can, I’m getting out of this place.’ ”

Mirjana Jelancic, a neighbour during childhood who is now headmistress of Melania’s old primary school, said: “Even as a child, Melania was creative. Sevnica was too small for her.”

Roman Dolensek, a local man, said: “She reinvented herself — [she became] refined, with perfect English. Without her, Trump would never have beaten Hillary Clinton or become president.”

Melania met Trump at a Fashion Week party in New York in September 1998, when he was separated from his second wife, Marla Maples. They were married in Florida in 2005. A year later, she gave birth to their son, Barron. In the same year, she became a US citizen.

Locals hope that their association with the Trumps will attract more tourists to a town that until recently was barely known, even to Slovenes.

“The attention is positive because Sevnica is developing into a tourist destination,” the mayor said.

Without her, Trump would never have beaten Hillary Clinton