Awkward Melania Trump Moments That Were Captured By Millions

Melania Trump is no stranger to the public eye and has been on the scene since the late 1990s. Having met Donald Trump at a party in September 1998, while she was still a model, as noted by Cosmopolitan, Melania knew what it was like to exist in front of the camera, and her life with Donald Trump has expanded her public life tenfold.

Melania Trump has had a stunning transformation over the years, and as first lady, she has had some pretty major stand-out moments. Whether it be great fashion choices, a scary all-red Christmas tree theme, or a jacket that read, "I really don't care, do u?" on the back, Melania has surely made a name for herself, and she's consistently stayed in the headlines.

But perhaps the moments that we have seen most often have been the awkward interactions, the less-than-subtle frowns, and the eye rolls that the first lady has appeared to do while on the job. Unfortunately for her (but fortunately for us), most of these clunky moments have been caught on camera. Have you ever wondered what Melania Trump moments have gone viral? Why have there been so many tense interactions between her and the president? Well wonder no more — here are all the awkward Melania Trump moments that were captured by millions.

Donald Trump's inauguration day continued with another awkward Melania Trump moment when the First Couple danced at the inaugural ball. In the five-minute video of the dance posted on Twitter by ABC News, it's clear that the first lady was rigid in her posture, oftentimes pulling away from her husband's face. Millions of onlookers took to social media to point out the awkward body language on Melania's part. "Melania's face while dancing with Trump reminds me of the first time I went to the gynecologist," one Twitter user said about the dance. "[Melania] looks beautiful in her dress but they look awkward dancing together," said another.

Expert Patti Wood broke down their body language, as shared by Harper's Bazaar, saying that "they didn't seem to have intimate moments during the dance, it didn't seem to be about them as a couple." During the inaugural dance, the newly sworn-in president started to sing along to the music and engaged with the audience, another factor in the awkward tension between him and Melania. "He was happy in the moment, but it didn't seem to be a shared, intimate moment," Wood said.

Donald Trump is known for stopping by reporters and photographers while exiting the White House to talk about his administration. In 2018, he was joined by Melania Trump, and, in classic fashion, he stopped by the press. But this time, he left Melania not only by herself but without any protection from the rain, and the whole awkward encounter was captured on video. 

As Vanity Fair noted, "The president couldn't help but interrupt their walk to the helicopter to go directly up to the news cameras," as he wanted to speak about his and Melania's latest television interviews. But unlike Donald, Melania was not keen on speaking to the press and waited in the rain for him to wrap up. 

And not only did Donald not try to share his umbrella with his wife, but he also didn't make any effort to reciprocate her hand-holding. In a moment that is often rare for this couple, Melania finally walked up to a press-ogling Donald and tried to hold his hand, only to find that he was holding a "USA" hat instead. All in all, the whole interaction was a tense state of affairs.

After some high-profile hand-swatting and subsequent viral videos, First Lady Melania Trump appeared to become more sly with her avoidance of her husband's hands. But even so, she awkwardly got out of locking fingers with Donald Trump in 2018, and she used her clothing to obscure her available hand, hiding the interaction from the cameras. Luckily for us, Twitter is home to some beady-eyed watchers, and the moment quickly found its way to the internet. 

The video of the interaction, shared by NBC News, appeared to show Melania using her coat to tuck her hand away from her husband, ultimately resulting in his failure to grasp his wife's fingers. He then moved to the other side of her and put his hand on her back, a move that most guys do in clubs that make us ladies very uncomfortable. As noted by People, the president then led Melania to Air Force One, but the moment had already resulted in one of the most awkward Melania interactions caught on camera. It may not have helped that the news of Donald's alleged 2006 affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels had (at that point) just made it to the headlines.

Donald Trump's inauguration day gave us so many awkward Melania moments that it's hard to keep track of them all. But nevertheless, here's another one. When the president-elect and Melania Trump went to the White House and met with Barack and Michelle Obama, the newly minted first lady gave us yet another viral moment, this time due to her husband's departure of their vehicle and subsequent walk up the White House stairs without her. 

Melania, holding a gift for the outgoing Obamas, was left on the far side of the car while The Donald made his way to his new home and office, not waiting even a beat for Melania to join him. As such, body language expert Patti Wood weighed in on the tense exchange. "He's not looking back, he's not waiting for her, he's not looking for her, and he's decided he wants to be introduced by himself rather than as a couple unit," Wood said, as noted by Harper's Bazaar. "He's saying, I'm on my own, I am singular, I am president. That would be one way he shows his power." All we can say is yikes.

The 2020 Republican National Convention really was the event that just kept giving. From Kimberly Guilfoyle's loud, slightly scary speech to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying that Democrats want to limit the amount of hamburgers people eat (via The Cut), the whole affair was pretty wild. But no moment caught the attention of the internet more than Melania Trump's greeting of Ivanka Trump on stage and what appeared to be an eye roll that accompanied it, which seemed to suggest Melania Trump's relationship with Ivanka Trump may be rather cold.

As noted by Business Insider, the president's daughter had introduced him to the (not socially distanced) audience before his speech accepting the Republican nomination for president for a second time, and she was met with one of the most awkward facial expressions from the first lady. Standing next to her husband and wearing a green dress (that was later used by social media as a green screen for a variety of images), Melania smiled at Ivanka, but immediately seemed to widen her eyes with a certain sense of grief, appearing to roll her eyes. We don't know exactly what the first lady was thinking or why she awkwardly reacted to Ivanka the way she did, but the video is sure worth watching.

If Donald Trump is known for anything, it is his apparent love of the national anthem and the American flag, which he has hugged and kissed in the past. But his love for all things patriotic suffered a bit of a slip-up in 2017. During the 139th annual White House Easter Egg Roll, Melania Trump had to awkwardly nudge Donald to put his hand over his heart during the anthem, and like many of their clunky interactions, the on-video nudge went viral. 

As noted by Time, the first lady and Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron, put their hands over their hearts when the anthem began, but the president did not. After seconds of the song had passed, Melania subtly nudged The Donald, and he quickly realized the error of his ways. But even with her sly maneuvers, Melania's awkward interaction and her correction of her husband's behavior was picked up on, and it quickly made its way to the internet. Blink at the wrong moment and you'll miss it, but the awkward nudge is there... and it's a little painful to watch.

In one of her first viral awkward moments, Melania Trump's 2016 Republican National Convention speech was subject to pretty intense criticism, and it's no wonder as to why. Her speech, given the first night of the convention, was a near carbon copy of a 2008 speech given by Michelle Obama, and, as such, the internet went wild. Videos can still be seen of the two speeches played side by side, with the two women using almost the exact same language. But of course, one was made eight years before the other. 

After the viral speech and subsequent backlash, the Trump Organization shouldered the blame and eventually assigned the errors to staff writer Meredith McIver. As noted by NPR, McIver stated that Melania Trump had "always liked" Michelle Obama and thus she incorporated some of Michelle's sayings in Melania's speech. But the backlash over the copy-cat verbiage was pretty severe, and McIver publicly apologized for it. "This was my mistake and I feel terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps, as well as to Mrs. Obama. No harm was meant," McIver wrote in a statement, as shared by NPR.