Melania Trump is apparently not fond of holding the hand of her husband, U.S. President Donald Trump. After she swatted his hand away while walking the tarmac in Israel on Monday, she again avoided his hands on Tuesday.
The second incident took place while the power couple was about to disembark from Air Force One. The President offered his hand to the FLOTUS as they were about to descend the stairs when she pulled her left hand away and used it to brush her hair.
Marital troubles red light
Of course, the Rome incident, the second in two days, caused another Twitter storm as netizens made fun of Melania’s growing habit of rejecting the billionaire’s hand when in public. But it does not surprise observers of the Trump couple who read “marital trouble” at the interaction of the two when in public.
Gizmodo pointed out that the public has seen how Trump has been a tremendous as***le to his wife since the inauguration day. It cited an earlier video clip showing Melania’s smile become a depressed look as soon as Donald turned his back on her. The website cited speculations that the president said something terrible to the first lady before he turned his back on her which explains the scowl on her face.
Twitter explodes with jokes again
Like Monday’s incident, netizens and media had a field day commenting and reporting on what happened in Rome. Jenna Amatulli noted in a tweet that Melania is not keen on holding hands this week.
Huffington Post, in turn, showed the president’s different handshakes when it comes to world leaders. With Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, it was a tight grip which Trump almost refused to let go. With British Prime Minister Teresa May, it was a brief handshake followed by a pat on the lady’s hand, while with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, there was no handshake at all.
Dab Aggin tweeted the reason why Melania did not want to hold her husband’s hand is because it is the same hand which he grabs other women’s private parts.
Patti Wood, a body language expert, explained that when the president reaches for her hand without looking back, it is similar to what a parent does to keep a child in tow, Mic reported.
His gesture was more like Donald telling her “Come along now.” However, her response is to Swat down his hand from top to bottom which is Melania’s way of telling her husband, “Don’t lead me.” Wood said that her swat is more of rejecting Donald’s patronizing gesture instead of rejecting his touch.
On the same day the Rome incident happened, Pete Souza, the former photographer of ex-President Barack Obama posted on Instagram a photo of Barack and Michelle holding hands, a sharp contrast to the Trumps. The photo, taken during an event in Selma, Alabama, got more than 152,000 likes and over 5,000 comments.