'Incredibly tacky': Melania Trump trolled for posing like a teen in fish face Christmas selfie

With celebrations in full swing, Melania Trump gave in to the festive mood to share a heavily-filtered selfie, filled with Christmas elements. Not a stranger to facing the camera, the First Lady of the US puckered up for the snap as she used the Santa Snapchat filter, sparking a wave of shocked reactions from her followers on social media.

"Merry Christmas!" Melania captioned the photo that appeared to have been tweeted from Mar-A-Lago, the Florida retreat where the Trumps, including President Donald Trump, are currently holidaying.

Donning her signature smokey-eye makeup, Melania traded her First Lady stance for a playful and cheeky pose, rolling her lips into the fish-face look.

She further accentuated the holiday spirit by adding a Santa cap filter and some shimmering reindeers — a kind of click that people on the internet have deemed as un-First Lady-like.

"Seriously Melania??? That photo is excessively TACKY!!! Zero class in this," a critic shared, calling out the First Lady over the Christmas selfie that was shared on the official Flotus twitter and Instagram account.

"Incredibly tacky and an insult to the position of First Lady. #embarrassing #trumpban," a second user tweeted, as someone else chimed in, "Are you the FLOTUS or a Kardashian? Good Lord."

Asides from the overtly-filtered image, people taking offence with the snap also seemed to be irked by her fish-face pose. One of the Twitter users even pointed out the awkwardness, writing, "I honestly thought someone else had tweeted this as a joke, not FLOTUS. Looks like a teen's selfie."

"Disgraceful for a First Lady, Christmas or not. You look like a model on a photo shoot for the front page of Hustler. I'm sure the elderly and poor will appreciate this photo given how you and hubby don't care about them, only your millionaire friends at Mar-a-Largo," another enraged user shared, taking a jibe at the Trumps' lavish resort in Florida.

A critic sarcastically added, "wow! Extremely First Lady-ish! How I miss Michelle Obama!" Speaking of sarcasm, some social media users didn't even hesitate to use harsh words to criticise the First Lady's latest selfie.

"Why do I immediately think that this is a cover of a "Playboy" magazines?" One follower of the Flotus shared in the comments section, to which another responded, "Because it looks exactly like the cover of a Playboy Magazine. Just a guess."

The flurry of negative comments continued as people went on to debate over whether or not Melania could be a role model for young girls.

"Nothing says Merry Christmas like a 'Look at Me' sexy selfie from the most prestigious female role model in America #FirstLady. Another reason I encourage my daughters not to look up to you. Wrong message on this day," a tweet read.

"Reminds me of what my Grandmother always said about class. You have it or you don't, no matter how much money, etc. No class at all in the current White House," someone else added.