A group of conspiracy theorists has taken to social media to share their views on a recent interaction between Donald and Melania Trump.
It's long been a joke online that his wife, Melania, is far from a fan of public displays of affection - with Trump's awkward attempt to kiss her cheek at his presidential inauguration not having gone unnoticed by viewers.
There have also been numerous incidents of the 55-year-old First Lady seemingly batting away Trump's hand, as she was first caught doing so back in 2017 during a visit to Tel Aviv, Israel.
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Whilst she and her 78-year-old husband walked a red carpet, Melania supposedly swatted her husband's hand as he attempted to reach out for hers.
Meanwhile, other incidents of hand-swatting took place in 2020, with one happening during the final presidential debate where the businessman attempted to grab her hand and she swiftly pulled away, and a more recent one when the couple were leaving the White House for the Capitol, according to the Irish Star and The Independent.
At the time, rumours surrounding the state of their marriage began doing the rounds online, with critics of the Republican couple having since upheld the conspiracy theory that the 55-year-old secretly despises her politician hubby.
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Melania later attempted to dispel speculation regarding her alleged 'hubby hatred' in her memoir, brushing off the hand-holding controversy as a 'mere misunderstanding' spurred by 'gossipmongers'.
She said that there had not been enough space for all of them to walk beside their spouses, but she was 'perfectly content' to walk behind.
Talking about the 'hand-swatting' in 2017, she wrote in her 2024 memoir, Melania, (via The Independent): "As we walked down the red carpet, I gently waved away his attempt to hold my hand.
"The media labeled it as a 'swat' and used it as supposed evidence of martial discord. This false narrative had been perpetuated since the beginning of the campaign, and it was disheartening to see how eager people were to believe in it."
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This week, however, another somewhat awkward theory has seemingly emerged, alleging that Melania actually charges her husband for the privilege of holding her hand.
'Evidence' for this comes from a now-viral photo taken of the couple last night, as they attended a production of Les Miserables at the Kennedy Centre, where Melania can be seen only granting Trump permission to hold her thumb.
Discussing said image, one critic appeared to jibe: "He grabbed a thumb because he couldn't afford to pay for the whole hand."
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Another went on to say: "There's a sliding scale for hand holding photo ops with Melania. Thumb goes for 10k. Thumb and index goes for 20K. Whole hand but for only 5 minutes, 50K."
"Melania did not get paid to hold Donnie's hand," a third noted, while another tweeted that 'perhaps time and a half or double time for actually holding that tiny hand too'.
Claiming the First Lady' can't make herself actually hold her husband's hand', a fifth continued: "Or should I say, Melania doesn't allow Trump to hold more than just her thumb, no matter what he's paying her."
"Melania would charge him more $$$$ to hold her entire hand," another joked.
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, Melania Trump, US News
Rhianna Benson