When it comes to handholding, things tend to get a little awkward between President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania. On three separate occasions, a stone-faced Melania, 47, has been photographed resisting her husband’s advances. That all changed on Tuesday, April 24.
As the couple stood in front of the White House steps ahead of their first State dinner, Melania wore her signature stoic expression — but her fingers were tightly intertwined with his. The PDA came just hours after the former model refused the 71-year-old’s attempt at tenderness. (He kept tapping her hand until she reluctantly clasped his.)
Twitter had a field day with the cringeworthy moment that was captured by MSNBC. “I know I’ve been an absentee dad and a horrible husband — including flagrant affairs while you were pregnant — but let’s just hold hands at this event,” wrote one person. Added another: “Melania refusing to hold Trump’s hand with a ghastly expression on her face, and then him creepy grabbing it, is American 2018.”
Of course, the pair, who have been married 13 years, are used to this kind of attention. On a tarmac in Israel in May 2017, she dodged Trump’s grasp with a swat heard around the world. One day later, another snub: As they were exiting Air Force One, Trump tried to take her hand but she suddenly attempted to fix her hair.
In March, an insider told Us Weekly that Melania, who shares son Barron, 12, with Trump, “is very, very unhappy with her life.”
“If she should, she would get away from Donald,” said the source. “And just be with her son.”
