Which New York modeling agencies represented Melania Trump in the 1990s and when did she sign with them?
Executive summary
Melania Trump was represented in New York in the mid‑1990s by Paolo Zampolli’s agency (often identified as Metropolitan Models), which hired her and sponsored her move to the United States in 1996, and later had a brief association with Donald Trump’s Trump Model Management after she met him in the late 1990s; accounting ledgers recovered by reporters show model‑agency records listing her from July 18, 1996, through September 26, 1997, with a U.S. work visa recorded on October 18, 1996 [1] [2] [3].
1. The core documentary trail: ledger entries and dates
The most concrete public evidence about Melania’s New York representation comes from accounting ledgers and related documents unearthed in a 1990s‑era legal dispute and examined by the Associated Press and other outlets; those ledgers identify her under her professional names and record her involvement with a New York modeling firm beginning July 18, 1996, continuing through September 26, 1997, and list earnings for assignments performed before she was issued a work visa on October 18, 1996 [2] [3].
2. The agency names reported: Paolo Zampolli and Metropolitan Models
Contemporary and retrospective reporting ties Melania’s U.S. entry and early Manhattan work to Paolo Zampolli, a co‑owner of a New York operation variously referred to as Metropolitan Models or connected firms; biographical summaries note Zampolli hired her and sponsored her immigration in 1996 and brought her to work in Manhattan, a claim reflected in multiple profiles and summaries of her career [1] [4].
3. The Trump Model Management connection and the late‑1990s timeline
After Zampolli introduced Melania to Donald Trump in 1998, reporting indicates she modeled in Manhattan and had a brief period associated with Trump’s modeling ventures; industry accounts and contemporaneous coverage describe her as a Trump model for a short time after she met Donald in the late 1990s, though the dominant documentary evidence about signing and payroll centers on the mid‑1996 ledger tied to Zampolli’s firm [1] [5].
4. Conflicting emphases, open questions and legal fallout
The public record mixes firm names, legal claims and media attention: while AP and PBS reporting rely on authenticated ledgers to document dates and pay, other outlets and later narratives highlight a libel suit Melania brought over allegations about an agency’s conduct—settled with an apology and payment—underscoring how reputational and legal battles have shaped what details were emphasized or suppressed by different parties [2] [3] [6].
5. What the sources do — and do not — establish with confidence
The documents reviewed by AP/PBS establish that Melania worked for and was paid by a New York modeling firm starting in mid‑July 1996 and that she had a work visa recorded in October 1996; multiple biographical accounts attribute her U.S. sponsorship to Paolo Zampolli (Metropolitan Models) and describe a subsequent short link to Trump Model Management after 1998, but the public record does not include a single universally agreed‑upon unredacted contract publicly tying every transaction to a single corporate name beyond the ledger entries cited in AP/PBS reporting [2] [3] [1] [5].
6. Bottom line for the timeline question
In sum, reporting and recovered ledgers show Melania was on the payroll of a New York modeling firm beginning July 18, 1996, secured a U.S. work visa on October 18, 1996, and was brought to New York by Paolo Zampolli (often associated with Metropolitan Models); a brief affiliation with Trump Model Management is reported after she met Donald Trump in 1998, but the primary signed/payroll evidence cited by major outlets points to the Zampolli‑linked firm and the mid‑1996 signing/pay period [2] [3] [1] [5].