Hard to trump Michelle

Melania Trump may be glamorous, but the transition from model to first lady is going to take time and heart.

The 46-year-old former Slovenian model is about to become the US's first lady following her husband's presidential election victory.

The incoming first lady couldn't be more different from her predecessor, Michelle Obama.

While Obama personifies style and grace and has taken an active role in the political sphere, Trump has seemed content on the sidelines. When she eventually stepped into the political limelight at the Republican National Convention, she was mocked after the discovery that her speech was plagiarised from Michelle Obama's.

According to political analysts, it's too soon to tell what kind of political role Trump will play, but it is clear she has big shoes to fill.

Obama, a lawyer and a writer, was the first black first lady of the US. During her husband's terms as president she implemented initiatives related to health and fitness, education and support for families of those in the military.

Trump studied at the University of Ljubljana for one year before leaving to pursue her modelling ambitions and can speak five languages: Slovenian, Serbian, English, French and German.

PLAGIARIST: Melania Trump, the US first lady in waiting, will have to rebrand herself, say analysts. Picture: LEIGH VOGEL/WIREIMAGE

She is the US's first foreign-born first lady in two centuries.

Despite the expectations citizens may have for Trump, political analyst Zwelethu Jolobe said she was not legally bound to play any political role.

"Her role could range from doing nothing, to charity to supporting the president - but it has no consequence.

"Whatever role she plays would be determined by what kind of president Trump wants to be. The trick is to wait and see what his plans are and then we'll know what kind of first lady she'll be."

Analysts say she will, however, need to rebrand herself after the plagiarism scandal and her leaked nude pictures.

Sarit Tomlinson, managing director at Johannesburg public relations agency Capacity Relations, said rebranding wouldn't happen overnight.

"Repositioning is an exercise in emotional engineering and building desirability, that's heart stuff. Melania would need to achieve something positively significant during her husband's term in office," Tomlinson said.