Pope Francis joked that Melania Trump feeds her husband a nut-filled Slovenian cake during a meeting at the Vatican.

Axar.az reports citing Independent.

In an apparently awkward but thankfully brief exchange, the pontiff asked the First Lady: “What are you feeding him, potica?”

He was referring to a traditional sweet bread, which can also be filled with chocolate or honey, and is baked in the form of a Swiss roll.

A translator repeats the question in English and Ms Trump, who grew up in the Slovenian town of Sevnica, replies, “potica, yes”, before both parties laugh.

The Vatican initially said Pope Francis was enquiring about pizza, a mistake repeated by some who watched the video, but later clarified that he had in fact been asking about the similar-sounding cake.

There was no mention of whether the pontiff had been referring to the stature of Donald Trump, who at a reported 16-and-a-half-stone has previously acknowledged he "could lose a little weight".

The conversation, caught on camera, offers insight into the small talk that world leaders must endure. It also reveals the pitfalls of mistranslation.

Mr Trump met the pontiff for 30 minutes on Wednesday morning, during his first overseas trip since entering the White House.

He was given a small sculptured olive tree from the Pope and told through the interpreter that it symbolised peace.

"It is my desire that you become an olive tree to construct peace," the Pope said, speaking in Spanish.

Mr Trump responded: "We can use peace."

Pope Francis also gave Mr Trump a signed copy of his 2017 peace message whose title is "Nonviolence - A Style of Politics for Peace", and a copy of his 2015 encyclical letter on the need to protect the environment from the effects of climate change.

"Well, I'll be reading them," Mr Trump said.

Mr Trump gave the Pope a boxed set of five first-edition books by US civil rights leader Martin Luther King.

As Mr Trump and the Pope said goodbye at the door of the study, the President said: "Thank you, thank you. I won't forget what you said."

In a statement, the Vatican said the two sides agreed on their "joint commitment in favour of life and freedom of worship and conscience”.

The statement continued: "It is hoped that there may be serene collaboration between the state and the Catholic Church in the United States, engaged in service to the people in the fields of healthcare, education and assistance to immigrants."

It said talks also covered promoting peace through dialogue with people of other faiths.