US President Donald Trump kisses first lady Melania Trump after signing an executive order on women's health, spearheaded by first lady Melania Trump, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC, US, October 19, 2026. REUTERS/Umit Bektas TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
First lady Melania Trump set off a wave of jokes online after she turned her head away as President Donald Trump leaned in to kiss her.
Journalist Aaron Rupar posted the video on X on Monday, taken at a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House. Rupar’s post drew more than 100,000 views.
At the event, Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a White House task force and a women’s health division at the National Institutes of Health, with Melania Trump alongside him, Reuters reported.
With the video, Rupar wrote, “Melania Trump turns her head far to the side as Trump moves in for a kiss.”
The video shows Donald Trump’s lips landing on the side of her head, in her hair. The couple then clasp hands as people behind them applaud.
About a minute after Rupar’s post, the progressive outlet The Tennessee Holler wrote on X, “She turned like his lips were tasers.”
About 10 minutes later, broadcaster Keith Olbermann mocked the moment on X, writing, “‘Smell deee bleeech gramper.’”
Another X user chided, “Nice dodge Melania!”
An account called Comedy of Things noted, “If my wife turned her head like this, and I had to pat her hand several times, I’d be getting texts from relatives and friends saying ‘hey, are you guys ok’ and ‘is everything alright’.”
A user posting as Lucas Sanders observed, “You can tell that she didn’t want to kiss him back!”
In another clip Rupar posted from the ceremony, Donald Trump, apparently joking that his wife is hard to please, said from the podium, “Uhhh, boy. You think she’s easy? She’s not so easy.”
Rupar also posted a video of Donald Trump signing the order, then handing Melania Trump a pen.
“Why don’t you sign, right?” Donald Trump asked, then turned to the crowd. “I don’t know if her signature means anything,” he said as the audience laughed, “but why don’t you do it? I think it does.”
“Yours is the most important,” Melania Trump replied.
About half an hour after Rupar posted the pen clip, commentator Mario Nawfal wrote on X, “Marriage at the White House sounds exhausting.”