Melania Trump, 47, is the wife of Donald Trump, 71, and the First Lady of the United States.
However, Melania – born Melanija Knavs, and later Melania Knauss – had a successful modelling career earlier on in her life.
She began working as a model at the young age of five, and at 16 she started modelling in adverts.
At the age of 18, she signed up with a modelling agency in Milan, Italy.
(CNN) First lady Melania Trump eschewed the traditional South Lawn couple's walk to Marine One on Friday amid another adultery allegation scandal, opting instead to drive separately ahead of President Donald Trump.
"With her schedule it was easier to meet him on the plane," Stephanie Grisham, the first lady's communications director, said in a statement.
Melania Trump does plan to accompany her husband when he visits with victims of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, a White House official told CNN.
Earlier Friday, The New Yorker published a report based on a handwritten account from Karen McDougal who detailed her alleged affair with Donald Trump for nine months from June 2006 to April 2007, when Trump was two years into his marriage with Melania Trump. The document was provided to The New Yorker by McDougal's friend, but she confirmed to the magazine that the handwriting in the document is hers.
A White House spokesperson denied the affair in a statement to the magazine.
After Melania boarded Air Force One alone to head to Florida to meet massacre victims, the Trumps put on a united front as they exited the aircraft but the First Lady ignored the President's attempt at some PDA.
As Donald and Melania deplaned, the President was seen searching for her hand - but he only managed to grab a thumb for a split second.
And on reaching the bottom of the jet's rolling staircase, Melania swiftly walked around the SUV waiting on the tarmac, before they were whisked away.
The couple are in Florida to meet victims and first responders of the school shooting by Nikolas Cruz, 19, which killed 17 and injured 12.
The icy interaction follows a Friday report of an interview with a Playboy Playmate alleging she had an affair with a not-yet-president Trump in 2006. She is the second woman to make such a claim against the newly-wedded Donald within 2006.
Sunshine and ice: The First Couple landed in Florida after boarding Air Force One separately in DC. They arrived looking distant after Friday's bombshell claims by a Playmate that she slept with Trump in 2006 within months of Melania giving birth to their only son
Searching for the First Lady's hand, Trump manages to grasp her thumb briefly as they touched down in Florida
The Playboy Playmate is the second woman to make such a claim against the newly-wedded Donald within 2006. Seen above deplaning on Friday
Melania unexpectedly arrived at and boarded Air Force One on Friday at Andrews Air Force Base without her husband (above)
The flight started off equally cold, as the First Lady broke with tradition when she unexpectedly arrived at and boarded Air Force One on Friday in D.C. without her husband.
An advisory had the president and First Lady departing the White House and flying to Palm Beach together.
As journalists were waiting on the South Lawn for their Marine One departure, a reporter on the plane said that Melania had not only arrived at Joint Base Andrews, but she was already on the government aircraft awaiting takeoff.
President Trump walked out of the Oval Office alone a few minutes later and boarded his helicopter without stopping to speak to the press.
Earlier today, a bombshell account from a Playboy Playmate who claims that she had a year-long affair with President Trump appeared in The New Yorker.
Karen McDougal says the real estate scion used his money and power to get her in bed and then ensure her silence.
An advisory had the president and First Lady departing the White House and flying to Palm Beach together. However they left separately. They are seen above arriving in Florida
On reaching the bottom of the jet's rolling staircase, Melania swiftly walked around the SUV waiting on the tarmac, before they were whisked away
The couple are in Florida to meet victims and first responders of the school shooting by Nikolas Cruz, 19, which killed 17 and injured 12
A wave to the crowd: The pair set off for the hospital that is treating school shooting victims
McDougal says she and President Trump met back in 2006 at a party that was hosted by Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion.
President Trump took an immediate liking to her, she later wrote in her journal, noting that one of the magazine's marketing executives joked: 'Wow, he was all over you - I think you could be his next wife.'
His third wife, Melania, was back in New York with the couple's three-month-old child Barron at the time, and shortly after the party McDougal says she was invited to have dinner with President Trump in his private bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
President Trump walked out of the Oval Office alone a few minutes later and boarded his helicopter without stopping to speak to the press (above)
An advisory had the president and First Lady departing the White House and flying to Palm Beach together, but when it came to leave, President Trump was left to helicopter to Marine and board the plane solo
McDougal wrote that the meeting culminated with the pair's first sexual encounter, and when they were done, Trump offered to give her money.
'I looked at him (+ felt sad) + said, "No thanks - I’m not ‘that girl." I slept w/you because I like you - NOT for money’"- He told me "you are special."'
McDougal, who was the Playmate of the Month for December 1997 and later Playmate of the Year for 1998, said she was drawn to Trump's personality above all else.
'I was so nervous! I was into his intelligence + charm. Such a polite man,' she wrote in her journal.
McDougal says she began to see Trump whenever he was in Los Angeles, which at the time was quite often due to his work on 'The Apprentice.'
Karen McDougal (pictured with Donald Trump in 2006 above) says she met the future president at a Playboy Mansion party in 2006, shortly after his wife Melania had given birth to their son Barron
McDougal (above in 1998) detailed the affair in an eight-page letter obtained by The Ne Yorker
Melania (above in October 2007) had just given birth to son Barron when the alleged affair began
It would always be at the same bungalow, and President Trump would always have the same meal, said McDougal, who was also quite impressed by the fact that he never drank alcohol.
The affair soon moved out of the bungalow and into the real world, however, with McDougal claiming she met Trump's children, got a private tour of his New York City residence and began flying around the country so the two could be together.
The affair would ultimately last 10 months, and it would be 10 years after it ended that McDougal would find herself silenced after signing a $150,000 deal with media company AMI, which is owned by President Trump's close friend David Pecker.
McDougal (second from left) with Hugh Hefner, fellow bunnies Christine Santiago and Julie Cialini, and George Maloof (top right)
One such event was the Lake Tahoe golf tournament - the same place where Trump allegedly began an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels that same year.
McDougal claims that the relationship began to fall apart when Trump began making racially charged comments about her friendship with an African American man. He would reportedly tell her that she liked 'the big black d**k.'
McDougal was Playmate of the year in 1998
She also became increasingly concerned about what her mother would think of her lifestyle.
In April 2007, after ten months, she says she finally ended the affair.
President Trump has denied the affair through a spokesperson, with the White House stating: 'This is an old story that is just more fake news. The President says he never had a relationship with McDougal.'
McDougal, the 1998 Playmate of the Year and runner up Playmate of the 90s, says she not only had the affair with Trump, she sold her story to t he National Enquirer's publishing company.
But the National Enquirer never published McDougal's allegations, and were using the contract to instead operate as an NDA to ensure McDougal kept quiet about the affair, according to a report.
The Wall Street Journal first broke that angle of the story around the time of the election after reviewing the details of her contract.
McDougal says she and Trump had a nine-month relationship in 2006, which began after meeting at a party at the Playboy Mansion
McDougal and American Media Inc., which owns the National Enquirer, agreed to the transaction in early August, the Wall Street Journal reported.
American Media Inc. said in a statement the $150,000 was payment for exclusive life rights to any story related to a relationship McDougal may have had with a married man - and for fitness columns written by her.
The contract, according to the Wall Street Journal, kept McDougal from disclosing her story on other outlets and established damages of at least $150,000 if she shared her account elsewhere.
But American Media Inc. didn't plan on publishing the story, even though McDougal expected it to run, people familiar with the situation told the Wall Street Journal.
'AMI has not paid people to kill damaging stories about Mr Trump,' the company said in the statement.
Meanwhile, McDougal admits she's nervous about finally sharing her story but says she was inspired to come forward after Stormy Daniels made her affair public.
She said she hopes to use her story to inspire other women to think before signing agreements that could force them into silence.
McDougal, pictured with Hugh Hefner, won Playmate of the Year in 1998 (pictured)
Trump, who had been married to model Melania for around two years in 2006, would also fly her around the country to various events where he was attending, McDougal claims (McDougal pictured at the annual Playboy Golf Scramble championship finals at Lost Canyons Golf Club, 2007 in Simi Valley, California)
The National Enquirer has supported Trump throughout the presidential campaign.
American Media Inc CEO David Pecker told the Wall Street Journal in a statement it was known that he and Trump are friends.
But he used the National Enquirer's coverage of Trump's affair with Marla Maples when he was married to his first wife Ivana was a proof of the publication's independence.
caption Donald and Melania Trump. source Chris Kleponis/Getty
Melania and Donald Trump broke tradition by arriving at Marine One via separate routes on Friday.
The first lady’s communications director said the unusual choice was due to Melania Trump’s schedule.
On Friday, The New Yorker published a former Playmate’s account of an affair with the president in 2006.
Melania and Donald Trump broke from tradition after a New Yorker report published Friday detailed a former Playmate’s account of an affair with the president in 2006.
The first lady eschewed the traditional walk with the president across the White House’s South Lawn to Marine One on Friday, instead driving to the aircraft separately, CNN reported. They’re flying to Parkland, Florida, to meet with people affected by Wednesday’s shooting at a high school there.
“With her schedule, it was easier to meet him on the plane,” Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s communications director, said in a statement to CNN.
Melania Trump’s absence was especially notable given her tendency to disappear from the president’s side after reports of his past indiscretions surface.
The former Playmate, Karen McDougal, told The New Yorker the affair happened a few months after the birth of Donald and Melania Trump’s son, Barron.
Earlier this week, the first lady again appeared to distance herself from the president.
On Wednesday, Stormy Daniels, the porn star who says she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006, said she was now open to talking about the relationship. That day, Melania and Donald Trump publicly refrained from wishing each other a Happy Valentine’s Day.
The first lady also largely disappeared from public engagements with her husband after The Wall Street Journal reported in January that Michael Cohen, one of his top lawyers, organized the transfer of $130,000 into Daniels’ account in October 2016.
Melania Trump did not join the president on a trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as planned, nor did she post anything to celebrate their anniversary on January 22, as she has in years past.
