paywall

paywall

Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Melania Trump’s regular disappearances from public view have lowered the bar for First Lady duties to the point that people were surprised to see her accompany President Trump to the United Nations General Assembly this week. Both the president and Fox News anchors heaped praise on Melania for merely managing to walk up a stalled escalator. But now video has emerged that suggests all may not be well between the First Couple.

The footage was shot through the windows of Marine One on Tuesday night after the Trumps landed at the White House. It shows the president wagging his finger in his wife’s general direction, and Melania frowning and shaking her head. But after stepping out of the helicopter, the Trumps smiled and held hands as they walked back to the White House in front of the press.

Various news outlets euphemistically described this as the couple being “in animated conversation,” “having a frank discussion,” and “having a finger-pointing exchange.” But it’s clear what all these articles were getting at: Did we just see the Trumps have a fight?

While it might seem that there’s no way we could possibly know what the Trumps were discussing, the British tabloids may have cracked the case by consulting a crack team of lip readers and body-language experts. The Mirror reported:

Speaking to the Daily Mail, [Lip-reading specialist Jeremy Freeman] suggests Melania said: “You just continued …” to which Trump responded: “It was unbelievable.”

Melania then retorted: “Just say it and leave it …” Seemingly taken aback, Trump replied: “How can you do that …”

Body language expert Judi James supported the view the conversation may not have been as fiery as it seemed.

She told the Mirror: “The body language in this clip shows contrasting signals, but it needs mentioning that Melania is actually smiling as she shakes her head, suggesting Trump might be relating some event from the day using some illustrative gestures and the pointed finger for emphasis and making her laugh in the process.”

Perhaps the Trumps weren’t angry at each other, they were angry about the stalled-escalator incident. This does track with other available evidence. Trump hasn’t stopped complaining about a series of technical problems he dubbed “triple sabotage at the U.N.” (which may all be explained by simple human error, not some vast anti-Trump conspiracy).

So rest assured that there’s no reason to think there’s any strife between the First Couple (aside from Melania skipping almost every 2024 campaign event, not showing up to any of her husband’s court appearances, not spending much time at the White House, and publicly swatting the president’s hand away on multiple occasions).

Did Melania & Donald Trump Have a Fight on Marine One?

Did Melania & Donald Trump Have a Fight on Marine One?