Donald Trump Humiliated by Wife Melania as His Embarrassing Attempt to Get a Kiss at MAGA Rally Goes Wrong
Former President Donald Trump’s latest rally at New York City’s Madison Square Garden was a political spectacle. However, the event also had some moments that had the internet buzzing, including an awkward kiss between the former president and his wife, Melania Trump.
Speakers at the Oct. 27 event bashed the Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, and her running mate, Tim Walz. They also made crude jokes about African Americans, Latinos, and the island of Puerto Rico — which was to be expected.
The rally, marked by controversial comments from Trump’s allies and even a scandalous remark from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe that said that Puerto Rico is a “floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean,” was almost overshadowed by Melania’s brief appearance.
However, she, too, had what seems to have been a controversial moment.
After introducing her husband, Melania was met with Trump’s attempt at a kiss—one that social media users were quick to label uncomfortable, staged, and far from affectionate.
The kiss itself was awkward by every standard.
Trump grasped both of Melania’s arms and leaned in, only for her to turn her head. Instead of a kiss on the mouth, the couple exchanged three air kisses, one on each side, a greeting that felt distant and cold to the onlookers.
One posted on the X platform a video of the exchange, writing, “Trump went in for a kiss on the lips, and Melania said, ‘not today mother f—ker.’”
Trump went in for a kiss on the lips and Melania said, “not today mother f*cker.” 😂
pic.twitter.com/tEmkFPuMbl— Carlos Turnbull (@cturnbull1968) October 28, 2024
“Melania hates that man. Sis can’t even hide it!” one user on Neighborhood Talk exclaimed, summing up a sentiment widely shared online.
Another comment, less forgiving, read, “Like n—ga you know we don’t ever kiss on the mouth tf. She def was paid extra this month for this.”
The critiques didn’t stop there. As one commenter put it, “How he want us to want him, when his own damn wife hates him.”
Someone else joked, “At the end he whispered, ‘The next time you don’t kiss me on the mouth I’m sending you back.’”
The Trumps’ latest public interaction has long fueled speculation that they are not in love, partly due to Melania’s demeanor toward her husband in public.
In 2020, Donald and Melania Trump made headlines when an awkward attempt to hold Melania’s hand left Donald embarrassed. The footage was captured as the pair attempted to deboard Air Force One. While walking down the plane’s steps, the 45th president reached and grabbed for his wife’s hands. However, she wrested her hand away to avoid his embrace.
“She seems PEED off,” a commenter observed at the time. “She hates him,” said another.
Welcome to the resistance @FLOTUS https://t.co/4qJ5JaeqJO
— Fernand R. Amandi (@AmandiOnAir) August 17, 2020
Prior to that incident, Melania Trump also went viral for swatting away her husband when he tried to hold her hand while arriving at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, in May 2017. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met with the Trumps at the airport, was spotted hand-in-hand with his wife Sara. In her recent memoir, “Melania,” released Oct. 8, the former first lady attempted to explain the “swat” incident, chalking it up as a simple misunderstanding that was blown out of proportion.
“As we walked down the red carpet, I gently waved away his attempt to hold my hand,” Melania wrote before explaining that a narrow red carpet caused her to reject walking side-by-side with her husband.
“Protocol demanded that the president and prime minister walk side by side, with their spouses trailing behind,” she explained in her memoir. “Yet, unforeseen circumstances led to a slight deviation from the norm. Bibi ended up holding his wife’s hand, and my husband walked beside them – three abreast. The red carpet simply could not accommodate all four of us abreast.”
Melania went on to say that when her husband reached back to hold her hand, she brushed him off to inform him that she was OK with walking behind him. However, after several examples of the Slovenia-born model avoiding her husband’s affection, many critics find her explanation hard to believe.
Originally Melania Knauss, she came from Slovenia, a part of the former Yugoslavia, in 2000 as a model working in New York City. In 2001, she was one of just five Slovenians to receive a coveted visa, and she became a U.S. citizen in 2006, a year after marrying Trump, The Washington Post reports.
The couple has been married since Jan. 22, 2005, yet their public displays often feel more staged than spontaneous, a dynamic that hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Yet, for all the online mockery, there’s a layer to the story that many miss. Melania’s triple air kiss is actually a nod to her Yugoslavian roots, where this style of greeting is a cultural norm.
In Serbia, for example, it’s customary to greet loved ones and close friends with three kisses on the cheeks, a tradition that symbolizes warmth and respect, according to Serbonika.com, a Serbian blog about the nation’s culture.
Even with that explanation, Melania has gone on record to say that she doesn’t like the responsibilities of being in the First Lady limelight, even once being recorded complaining about everything from American politics and immigration and hating to set up the White House Christmas decorations.
Just a reminder that both the Trump campaign and Trump himself repeatedly urged Melania to speak at the RNC to demonstrate her love and support for her husband, but she declined. pic.twitter.com/lv7hPzURT2
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) August 21, 2024
People were even shocked that she showed up at the 2024 Republican National Convention, only making an appearance at the tail end on the last night.
Her own words add to people thinking she just doesn’t like the duties of being Mrs. Trump.
Though the Trumps’ public kiss may have seemed awkward by American standards, it’s a reminder that Melania’s heritage remains a part of her, even as she stands beside one of the most scrutinized figures in the U.S.
