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Did Melania Trump work illegally in the US?
Executive summary
Reporting from 2016–2018 shows documents and contemporaneous accounting ledgers indicating Melania Trump was paid for 10 U.S. modeling jobs worth about $20,000 in the weeks before she obtained a work visa, which multiple outlets characterized as work before she had legal permission to work [1] [2] [3]. Her lawyer and some associates have said she later obtained H‑1B visas and complied with immigration processes; disagreement in reporting and statements means the legal significance and ultimate immigration consequences remain contested in available sources [4] [5] [3].
1. What the AP-based reporting documented
The Associated Press and outlets that reproduced its documents reported that ledgers, contracts and related materials show Melania Trump was paid for 10 U.S. modeling jobs totaling roughly $20,056 during a seven‑week span before she had a work visa — a timeline the AP and PBS NewsHour described as “before she had legal permission to work” [1]. Canadian and other coverage summarized the same AP materials, stating she “earned more than $20,000” from modeling assignments before obtaining appropriate authorization [2].
2. The Trump camp’s response and claims of later legal status
Melania Trump’s attorney Michael Wildes issued statements saying she entered the U.S. on Aug. 27, 1996 and initially pursued a B‑1/B‑2 visitor visa before obtaining H‑1B status on Oct. 18, 1996; Wildes said she was then issued multiple H‑1B visas and became a lawful permanent resident by 2001 [3]. VisaLaw commentary and other defenders noted that if earlier work had been omitted from later immigration forms it could theoretically raise visa‑fraud questions — but that such outcomes would depend on USCIS review [4].
3. Disagreement among witnesses and agencies about whether work was “illegal”
Some people who worked with Melania — for example a former partner, Paolo Zampolli — have said she “never worked illegally for our agency” and that model visas were routine, suggesting she “always worked with a visa” according to interviews cited in reporting [5]. That statement directly contests the implication that all pre‑visa payments reflected unlawful employment; the available reporting presents both the AP’s document‑based timeline and rebuttals from people who handled modeling placements [1] [5].
4. Legal stakes described by immigration lawyers in contemporaneous pieces
Immigration lawyers writing about the AP story warned that if someone is paid while on a visitor visa, that can constitute unauthorized employment and could, if undisclosed or proven, trigger review of immigration benefits such as green card or naturalization applications — up to potential revocation — but those are possibilities contingent on agency action, evidence and process [4]. Available sources report the hypothetical legal consequences; they do not show USCIS took such enforcement action against Melania Trump in the reporting provided here [4].
5. How this became a political flashpoint
Reporting emphasized the irony that these facts surfaced during a campaign when Donald Trump was pushing stricter immigration enforcement, creating public debate and accusations of hypocrisy; outlets noted critics who argued that public policy stances made the alleged timeline politically salient [1] [2]. Media outlets and later social posts reignited the issue at times, including statements from public figures and social media users arguing for review or punishment based on the reported timeline [6] [7].
6. What the available sources do not resolve
Available sources do not include a public USCIS determination, court ruling, or other official adjudication that clearly states whether Melania Trump’s early U.S. modeling work legally constituted unauthorized employment that led to formal immigration penalties (not found in current reporting). They also do not include the full immigration file that immigration authorities would use to reach a definitive legal conclusion about any alleged visa missteps (not found in current reporting).
7. Bottom line for readers seeking a conclusion
Evidence published by the AP and republished by PBS, CBC and others documents payments for modeling work in the U.S. prior to the date those outlets and documents say she obtained a work visa, while Melania’s representatives and some associates say she subsequently secured H‑1B status and complied with immigration procedures [1] [3] [5]. Whether those early payments amount to an actionable immigration violation was framed as a legal possibility by immigration commentators, but the sources provided do not show a final legal finding or government enforcement outcome (p1_s1; not found in current reporting).