Vanity Fair Mexico is facing a backlash after featuring a bejewelled Melania Trump on its latest front cover, just as her husband sparked a diplomatic crisis with the country by ordering the construction of a wall along America's southern border.

The photo, which was recycled from GQ's April 2016 issue, shows the glamorous first lady posing with a fork and strings of jewels in a bowl like spaghetti, a jarring image for a country where almost half the population live in poverty.

"Melania Trump, on February cover," the magazine said on Twitter on Thursday. "A report that reveals the past of this intriguing first lady."