WASHINGTON - Former first lady Melania Trump made a rare public appearance on Dec 15, telling new US citizens at a naturalisation ceremony to “be proud of yourself, stand your ground and embrace the opportunities that lie ahead”.

The Slovenian-born former model has kept a low profile since the Trump presidency, though in November, she attended a memorial service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter.

At the oath-taking ceremony in Washington, Ms Melania recalled becoming a citizen in 2006 saying that she felt “a tremendous sense of pride and belonging”.

“My personal experience of traversing the challenges of the immigration process opened my eyes to the harsh realities people face, including you, who try to become US citizens,” she told the audience.

Donald Trump, who is running to win back the White House in 2024’s election, has staked much of his political career on being tough on migrants, and her choice of event raised eyebrows among political watchers.

The venue – the National Archives in the US capital – also sparked interest as prosecutors have charged Donald Trump with illegally hoarding classified presidential records that should have been lodged at the facility.

CNN reported that an invitation to address the ceremony was extended by archivist Colleen Shogan, who worked at the White House Historical Association during Ms Melania’s time as first lady.

Trump’s migrant policies

Ms Melania, 53, has remained largely absent during the former president’s multiple court appearances in recent months to fight legal cases against him and as he cranks up his 2024 election campaign.

In her short speech, she said that when she arrived in New York in 1996 she “immediately knew that I wanted to make the United States my permanent home”.

“For me, reaching the milestone of American citizenship marked the sunrise of certainty. At that exact moment, I forever discarded the layer of burden connected with whether I would be able to live in the United States,” she said.

It was not the first time that she has spoken about gaining US citizenship.

In 2020, she gave a well-received speech at the Republican Party convention, speaking about coronavirus victims and recalling her own immigrant story in an appeal for racial harmony.

Donald Trump has often demonised immigrants, targeting the huge numbers of undocumented people living and working for many years in the country.

He lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, but is neck-and-neck in polls for the 2024 race.

Ms Melania, who has one son with the former president, was America’s first foreign-born first lady since 1825.

She caused outrage and confusion in a 2018 trip to the US-Mexico border to visit child migrants while wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words “I really don’t care, do you?“ AFP