She has a secret half-brother
While preparing a profile of the incoming first lady for GQ, reporter Julia Ioffe made a startling discovery – Melania's father, Victor Knavs, who she describes as traditional and hardworking, fathered a secret son before marrying the model's mother.
Knavs agreed to pay child support after a court battle proved he was Denis Cigelnjak's father, a claim he initially contested, but he has never contacted his son nor acknowledged his existence. Now aged 50, Cigelnjak still lives in the family's native Slovenia.
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Melania initially said the reports were false but later, confronted with court documents, claimed she had misunderstood the question and had known about her half-brother "for years".