Former First Lady Melania Trump caused concern by skipping the Trump family’s Christmas photo.
Later, the former first lady’s mother — Amalija Knavs — was revealed to have fallen gravely ill. Knavs died Jan. 9 in Miami. Now, she’s set to be honored at a funeral on Thursday.
The funeral will take place at Florida’s Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea, near the family’s estate at Mar-a-Lago.
Former President Donald Trump, 77, sometimes attends this congregation. He was married to Melania there in 2005, and his son Barron Trump was reportedly baptized there shortly afterward.
“Today will be devoted to the funeral (Celebration!!!) of a GREAT WOMAN,’Babi,’the Beloved Mother of Melania and Grandmother of Barron,” the former president posted Thursday on Truth Social. “What a Woman she was!!!”
The former president added in a speech, “Boy, did she take care of Barron! That’s how he got so tall. He only ate her food.”
During the Trump presidency, the first lady’s mother lived in New York along with her father, Viktor Knavs, who survives her, and occasionally appeared at the White House. Amalija Knavs was at a 2018 ceremony where the first lady debuted her “Be Best” public awareness campaign to help children.
The Knavses raised Melania, born Melanija, and her older sister, Ines, in the rural, industrial town of Sevnica, Slovenia under Communist rule as part of Yugoslavia.
Amalija Knavs was a textile worker and homemaker, while her husband worked as a chauffeur before becoming a car dealer.
The former first lady, 53, attended high school in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, and changed her name to Melania Knauss when she started modeling. She settled in New York in 1996, met Trump in 1998, and gave birth to a child in 2005.
The former first lady sponsored her parents’ immigration to the United States, and they became citizens in 2018 at a federal courthouse in New York City.
The former president honored Knavs during his victory speech after Monday’s Iowa caucus.
“More important than Melania, I want to thank her incredible, beautiful mother who passed away a few days ago,” he said, looking at the sky.
“She’s up there, way up there. She’s looking down, and she’s so proud of us. And I just want to say to Amalija, ‘You are special, one of the most special people I’ve ever known, and that was a tough period of time for the family.’ But she’s amazing.”
Take a look at Trump’s remarks about his late mother-in-law —
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.