Melania Trump did not sit next to her husband during a dinner at the G20 summit in 2017 and was instead kept company by the Russian President Vladimir Putin who was sat next to her.
The odd seating arrangement was discussed in the new BBC Two documentary Trump Takes on the World tonight (February 10).
Melania was photographed talking and smiling with the Russian leader during the dinner, although then-US President Donald Trump was apparently keen not to leave her alone and came to stand next to them.
Both Melania and Putin are said to speak fluent German and the former First Lady also speaks Serbian and French.
Fiona Hill, a former official at the US National Security Council, was interviewed for the documentary and said it was an extraordinary seating arrangement.
She said: “We learned late on that the Germans had made, to us, the inconceivable decision to sit the First Lady next to President Putin.
“They could have placed her next to anyone in the G20 but, no, they had to pick President Putin knowing full well everyone would be scrutinising every interaction.
“And so President Trump went over, as was inevitable, to talk to his wife.”
Fashion model Melania, who featured in a swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated, was born and raised in communist Slovenia and baptised as a Roman Catholic.
She obtained US citizenship in 2001 after getting an EB-1 Visa, nicknamed the “Einstein visa” because it is reserved for the people deemed most talented in their line of work.
Trump is now facing his second impeachment trial but a former aide claims he is “much happier” now he is no longer US President and Melania “loves” that he can no longer use Twitter.
Talking about Trump’s Twitter ban, his former campaign manager Jason Miller said Melania has reported her husband is now “enjoying himself much more”.
Meanwhile, porn star Stormy Daniels has claimed her alleged sexual liaison with Trump was the “worst 90 seconds of my life” in a jaw-dropping podcast.
She said she “hated herself” over the alleged encounter in 2006, which Trump, who has been married to Melania since 2005, has always denied took place.