Melania Trump is making headlines over the previous days for something that is not related to her current official designation as the first lady of the United States. One of her earlier works as a fashion model went viral online, where she is seen sharing a passionate kiss with a New York firefighter for a magazine cover in the early 2000s.
Melania Trump kisses FDNY member for magazine’s special post-9/11 issue
Before being the United States first lady and meeting Donald Trump, she was already making a name for herself as a fashion model. It is then not surprising to see some of her early works in various fashion campaigns and magazines. Mrs. Trump, then known as Melania Knauss, posed for New York magazine’s Singles issue in February 2002.
This particular cover was extra special, though, because the editorial staff decided to celebrate the brave first responders following the devastating 9/11 attacks that happened a few months prior. The concept was to recreate the photo taken by photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt in 1945. The popular image shows a sailor kissing a nurse along Times Square during the Victory over Japan (V-J) Day festivities, effectively the end of World War 2, in Times Square.
Recalling the said cover made the magazine’s editorial staff realized how they did not have any idea they were working with a future first lady at the time. “We did not, at the time, expect to be working with the future First Lady of the United States. But we were,” journalist Matt Haber said after remembering the cover with the now FLOTUS through a post on Flickr.
Mrs. Trump was sharing the cover with Daniel T. Keane, who is now an FDNY battalion chief and was working as a part-time model at the time. Keane told Haber they were asked to repeat the kissing pose “a couple hundred times.”
Melania Trump and Donald Trump shared an on-and-off relationship before tying the knot
At the time of the magazine cover was created, Melania Trump was already involved with Donald Trump. “The person who was doing my hair and makeup, they said, ‘Do you know who that is?’ … And they said, ‘That’s Melania Knauss… That’s Donald Trump’s girlfriend,’” Keane recalled.
It has been widely reported that Melania and Donald Trump first met at a party in 1999, while various claims were made that they were on-and-off in the first years of their relationship until they got engaged in 2004. The two have been married since January 2005.