Melania Trump Once Mistook The Australian Foreign Minister For A Politician's Wife

Chip Somodevilla via Getty ImagesFirst lady Melania Trump delivers remarks during the International Women of Courage Awards in the Dean Acheson Auditorium at the Department of State's Harry S. Truman building March 07, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Bishop, the first woman to serve as Australian foreign minister, told a crowd during the Adelaide Film Festival on Saturday that the U.S. first lady assumed her husband, David Panton, held the post after a United Nations event in 2017.

Bishop said she and Panton were introduced to President Donald Trump and Melania Trump at a cocktail session after General Assembly leaders’ week. The president began chatting with Panton, she said, and Melania Trump started speaking with Bishop.

“Melania, standing by, assumed David was the foreign minister and she said to me: ‘Julie, will you be coming to my ladies’ lunch tomorrow?’” Bishop said, according to ABC Australia.

“And I said ‘No, David’s going to the partners’ lunch.’ She thought about that for a while, thinking: ‘Why would Australia’s foreign minister come to the partners’ lunch?’” Bishop added. “So this went on for a while until the president explained that I was the foreign minister.”

Bishop, who served as foreign minister from 2013 to 2018, was the only female member of Australia’s 19-person cabinet in 2013.