Melania Trump

Melania Trump (née Knauss, born Melanija Knavs,Germanized to Melania Knauss; April 26, 1970) is a jewelry and watch designer and former model. She is married to American billionaire real estate developer and 2016 U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump. Born in Slovenia, Knauss-Trump became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2006.

Early life

Knauss was born in Sevnica, in Slovenia's Lower Sava Valley (then part of Yugoslavia) in 1970. Her father, Viktor Knavs, who managed car and motorcycle dealerships, was from the nearby town of Radeče; her mother, Amalija, a fashion designer, came from a village in the area surrounding Sevnica, within the confines of Sevnica Castle. Knauss grew up in a modest apartment in a concrete housing block. She began her modeling career at age 16, and at age 18 signed with a modeling agency in Milan. She is fluent in English, French, Slovenian, Serbian, and German.

Career

Modeling career

After studying design and architecture at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, Knauss worked as a model for major fashion houses in Milan and Paris before relocating to New York City in 1996. Working with photographers including Helmut Newton, Patrick Demarchelier, and Mario Testino, Knauss subsequently appeared on the covers of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Ocean Drive, In Style, New York Magazine, Avenue, Allure, Vanity Fair, Self, Glamour, GQ, Elle, FHM, and was featured as a bikini model in the 2000 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. As a model, she was associated with several well-known modeling agencies, including Donald Trump's Trump Model Management.

Trump

A trump is a playing card which is elevated above its normal rank in trick-taking games. Typically an entire suit is nominated as a trump suit - these cards then outrank all cards of plain (non-trump) suits. In other contexts, the term trump card can refer to any sort of action, authority, or policy which automatically prevails over all others.

Etymology

The word "trump" derives from "trionfi" or "triumph", documented as the name of a card game in 1529 and which spawned the game Ruff and Honours, which in turn led to Whist. Trionfi was also the name of the original card game for which tarot cards were designed, and in it the tarot cards had the role of what are now called trumps; later card games, beginning with Triomphe, started using one of the ordinary suits as a replacement for the tarots when a tarot pack was not available.

Trump in card games

In most games, the relative rank of cards within a suit is the same in trump and plain suits, but they may sometimes differ, for example in Klabberjass, Euchre, or Eighty Points.

Donald Trump

Donald John Trump, Sr. (born June 14, 1946) is an American businessperson and media personality. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's career, branding efforts, personal life, wealth, and outspoken manner have made him famous throughout the country. Since 2015, he is also a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 election.

Trump is a native of New York City and a son of Fred Trump, who inspired him to enter real estate development. After two years at Fordham University and while studying at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Trump worked for his father's firm, Elizabeth Trump & Son. Upon graduating in 1968 he joined the company, and in 1971 was given control, renaming the company "The Trump Organization". Since then he has built hotels, golf courses, and other properties, many of which bear his name. He is a major figure in the American business scene and has received prominent media exposure. The NBC reality show The Apprentice bolstered his fame, and his three marriages were extensively reported in tabloids.

Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (/ˈpuːtɪn/; Russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Пу́тин; IPA: [vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ ˈputʲɪn], born 7 October 1952) has been the President of Russia since 7 May 2012, succeeding Dmitry Medvedev. Putin previously served as President from 2000 to 2008, and as Prime Minister from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012. During his last term as Prime Minister, he was also the chairman of United Russia, the ruling party.

For 16 years, Putin was an officer in the KGB, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel before he retired to enter politics in his native Saint Petersburg in 1991. He moved to Moscow in 1996 and joined President Boris Yeltsin's administration where he rose quickly, becoming Acting President on 31 December 1999 when Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned. Putin easily won the subsequent 2000 presidential election and was reelected in 2004. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits, Putin was ineligible to run for a third consecutive presidential term in 2008. Dmitry Medvedev won the 2008 presidential election and appointed Putin as Prime Minister, beginning a period of so-called "tandemocracy". In September 2011, following a change in the law extending the presidential term from four years to six, Putin announced that he would seek a third, non-consecutive term as President in the 2012 presidential election, an announcement which led to large-scale protests in many Russian cities. In March 2012, he won the election, which was criticized for procedural irregularities, and is serving a six-year term.

President of Russia

The President of the Russian Federation (Russian: Президент Российской Федерации, tr. Prezident Rossiiskoi Federatsii) is the head of state, Supreme Commander-in-chief and holder of the highest office within the Russian Federation. However, he is not the head of the executive branch. The Government of Russia is the highest organ of executive power. The current President of Russia is Vladimir Putin.

In 1991, the office was briefly known as the President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian: Президент Российской Советской Федеративной Социалистической Республики) until 25 December 1991. According to the 1978 Russian Constitution, the President of Russia was head of the executive branch and headed the Council of Ministers of Russia. According to the current 1993 Constitution of Russia, the President of Russia is not a part of the Government of Russia, which exercises executive power.

In all cases where the President of the Russian Federation is unable to fulfill his duties, they shall be temporarily delegated to the Prime Minister, who becomes Acting President of Russia. The Chairman of the Federation Council is the third important position after the President and the Prime Minister. In the case of incapacity of the President and Prime Minister, the chairman of the upper house of parliament becomes acting head of state.