Reaction to Trump's election victory Russian TV shows naked pictures of Melania Trump

Russian state television has - no sooner has Donald Trump won the election - pulled pictures of a photo shoot from the year 2000 out of mothballs, in which Melania Trump shows a lot of skin.

"Now that Melania Trump's husband has finally won, she is preparing to move into the White House for a second time," said Yevgeny Popov in the "60 Minut" program on state TV channel Rossiya 1.

Popov is a member of the Russian parliament - he has also hosted "60 Minut" together with his wife Olga Skabeyeva since 2016. She grins broadly while her husband talks about Melania Trump in the latest program, before the show shows pictures of the old and new First Lady that the American broadcasters would certainly not have presented.

"This is what Melania looked like in 2000," explains Popov. "This is the cover of 'GQ' magazine. The future First Lady is lying on furs in a negligee. The magazine features Melania's sexy photos near a private jet and inside the plane. In one of the shots, the model wears only her underwear and lies on a blue carpet with the US coat of arms."

While his wife can barely contain her laughter, Popow continues: "As if the editors-in-chief of the men's magazine had known something about their model's future beforehand."

How Melania's modeling career began

This TV drama is rounded off by a clip from the beginning of October. "What does 'My body, my choice' really mean?" asks Melanie Trump. Only to then cut back to the 24-year-old nude pictures.

Julia Davis from the "Russian Media Monitor" writes that Rossija 1 is the state broadcaster with the widest reach and that Skabeyeva's laughter makes it seem as if this TV stunt was her idea.

The old and new Frist Lady was born Melanija Knavs in 1970 in what is now Slovenia. In February 1987, she had her first professional shoot: Slovenian photographer Stane Jerko approached her on the street. In 1995, a modeling agent brought her to New York. Three years later, she met Donald Trump at a party thrown by her agent Paolo Zampolli, who divorced his second wife a year later.

Nude photo shoot at the age of 29 in Trump's private jet

When the shoot for the British men's magazine "GQ" takes place in January 2000, Melania is 29 years old. Trump's private plane, a Boeing 727, was one of the backdrops. Five years later, the couple married in Palm Beach, Florida.

Melania Trump has never made a secret of her pictures, in which she shows a lot of skin. "Why do I proudly stand behind my work as a nude model?" she asks in a video in mid-September. "The more pressing question is: Why did the media decide to scrutinize my celebration of the human form in a fashion photo shoot?"

The 54-year-old goes on to say in the clip, which promotes her book "Melania": "We should honor our bodies and use the timeless tradition of art as a powerful means of self-expression."