Melania Trump has taken to Twitter to defend herself against allegations she flouted US immigration laws. Photo / AP
Melania Trump has taken to Twitter to slam claims that she flouted immigration laws in her effort to become an American citizen.
Trump's claim that she relocated to the US in 1996 were put under the microscope this week when racy topless photos of her, taken in the US, were revealed to be from 1995.
It comes a month after her website was taken down amid questions about her academic qualifications.
While that website claimed she earned "a degree in design and architecture at University in Slovenia", CBS reported that she did not graduate and dropped out after a single year.
Trump blasted out a tweet overnight, denying that she has ever been in breach of US immigration laws.
"In recent days there has been a lot of inaccurate reporting and misinformation concerning my immigration status back in 1996,' the former model said. "Let me set the record straight: I have at all times been in full compliance with the immigration laws of this country. Period."
"Any allegation to the contrary is simply untrue. In July 2006, I proudly became a US citizen. Over the past 20 years, I have been fortunate to live, work and raise a family in this great nation and I share my husband's love for our country," she said.
She told Harper's magazine in July, "It never crossed my mind to stay here without papers. That is just the person you are. You follow the rules. You follow the law. Every few months you need to fly back to Europe and stamp your visa. After a few visas, I applied for a green card and got it in 2001."
Her immigration history is of particular interest given her husband, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, has taken such a hard line against immigrants arriving illegally.
Melania Knauss married Donald Trump in 2005 at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. They have one son together, named Barron.
A total of 51 men, including Dominique Pelicot, are on trial.