US First Lady Melania Trump, unfazed by recent diplomatic tensions, is gracing the cover of Vanity Fair Mexico this week - just as Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto cancels a planned meeting with her husband over his promised wall between the US and its southern neighbour.

In the cover, shot by Douglas Freidman, Mrs Trump is seen in a white dress, twisting a fork around a silver necklace as if to eat the jewelry.

Ms Trump did not speak to Vanity Fair Mexico for the piece, entitled “The Secret of Melania”. Both the article and picture were originally featured in GQ.

The cover was still surprising for many watching the ongoing feud between President Donald Trump’s new administration and the government of Mexico. On Friday morning, the day after the edition went on sale, Mr Trump tweeted that “Mexico has taken advantage of the U.S. for long enough. Massive trade deficits & little help on the very weak border must change, NOW!”

Melania's face falls the moment Trump turns away

The diplomatic spat partly played out on Mr Trump’s favourite medium, Twitter, with Mr Peña Nieto announcing in a tweet that a meeting planned for next week had been cancelled.

An executive order on the “southern border wall” between the two countries was part of a flurry of unilateral actions Mr Trump has taken since arriving in the Oval Office including one ordering staff to start slowing down the Affordable Care Act and another that stops US money going to NGOs abroad that promote abortions.