MIAMI — Donald Trump has joined his wife Melania in mourning her mother, Amalija Knavs, at a private funeral in Florida.

The former first lady announced the death of her mother at the age of 78 earlier this month.

She delivered a eulogy at the funeral, remembering her mother as "a ray of light in the darkest of days".

Trump skipped a court session in his defamation trial in New York to attend the funeral, after the judge refused to postpone the proceedings for a day.

"In her presence, the world seemed to shimmer with radiance and joy," Ms Trump said during a eulogy. "Our bond was unbreakable."

Amalija Knavs and her husband, Viktor, became US citizens in 2018 after living in the US on green cards sponsored by their daughter. They were able to take advantage of the family reunification visa process that then-president Donald Trump had derided as "chain migration" that should be scrapped.

She had worked at a textile factory in the Slovenian town of Sevnica, while Viktor was a car salesman.

Mrs Trump attended high school in the capital, Ljubljana, about an hour's drive away.

She met Donald Trump in 1998 while working as a model. They had a son, Barron, together in 2006 — the same year she became a US citizen. — BBC