Melania Trump Talks About Potentially Becoming First Lady in 1999 Video

An interview video of Melania Trump in 1999 has re-emerged in which the first lady said that Donald Trump, her then-boyfriend, “would be a great leader.” She also shared some thoughts on potentially being the first lady.

Melania, who was then 26 and known by her maiden name Melania Knauss, was interviewed by former ABC News correspondent Don Dahler on Dec. 3, 1999, following a photo shoot in New York City for a North Shore Animal League America campaign. ABC republished part of the interview on Oct. 13.

Donald Trump, Melania Trump, and son Barron attend the ceremony honoring him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, Calif. on Jan. 16, 2006. (Vince Bucci/Getty Images)

She shared her thoughts in the 1999 video about what it might be like if she were the first lady.

“I will be very traditional, like Jackie Kennedy. I will support him [Trump],” Melania replied when asked by Dahler to picture herself being married to the president.

“I will do a lot of social obligations,” she added.

She also stated that she was willing to become the first lady at the price of giving up her modeling career, saying, “I will stand by [my] man.”

Melania and Trump married in 2005 in Palm Beach, Florida.

The First Lady Travels the World

Melania recently concluded her first solo trip as first lady to Africa. She visited Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and Egypt, delivering the message of her “Be Best” child-welfare initiative to the region.

After visiting Malawi and Ghana, she arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, on Oct. 4 to a red-carpet welcome. The next day, she spent time with Kenyan first lady Margaret Kenyatta, who she met at the White House on Aug. 28 when Kenyatta accompanied her husband on a trip to the United States.

Melania flew to Cairo from Nairobi on Oct. 6 and received a warm welcome from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his wife, Entissar, at the presidential palace in Cairo.

The first lady visited a few of Egypt’s many cultural sites afterward, including the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid—one of the Seven Wonders of the World—in Giza with Egypt’s Minister of Antiquity Khaled Al-Anany.

The four-country and six-day trip was a big step for the first lady on the world stage. She said the message of her tour was to show the world that “we care.”

“We care, and we want to show the world that we care,” she said.

It was also a rare example of a time when she answered questions by reporters on a variety of topics.

Speaking in Cairo on the tour’s final leg, Melania praised Trump’s Supreme Court choice, Brett Kavanaugh, and said she was glad he and his accuser had a chance to be heard following allegations of sexual assault prior to Saturday’s Senate approval of his nomination.

“I’m glad that Dr. Ford was heard. I’m glad that Judge Kavanaugh was heard,” Melania said, referring to psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her.

Kavanaugh denied the uncorroborated accusation strongly. All four witnesses mentioned by Ford were unable to recall such an event, including Kavanaugh’s friend Mark Judge, who said he never saw the judge act that way.

Reuters contributed to this report.