Donald Trump has been a force on the global stage for almost a decade now, but not every public moment has gone according to plan. These are the moments from him, and his family, that came off a little awkward.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00Donald Trump has been a force on the global stage for almost a decade now,
00:04but not every public moment has gone according to plan.
00:07These are the moments from him and his family that came off a little awkward.
00:12As the first lady, Melania Trump has experienced some pretty standout moments.
00:17But perhaps the incidents that we have seen most often played out in the media
00:21have been the awkward interactions, the less-than-subtle expressions,
00:24and the eyes she's appeared to have rolled while on the job.
00:28In one of her first-ever viral moments, Melania's 2016 Republican National Convention speech made
00:34headlines — and it's no surprise as to why. Given on the first night of the event, it was
00:39a near-carbon copy of a 2008 speech by Michelle Obama. And of course, the internet went nuts.
00:45You work hard for what you want in life.
00:48That you work hard for what you want in life.
00:52After the viral speech and subsequent backlash, the Trump Organization shouldered the blame,
00:56and eventually assigned the air to staff writer Meredith McIver. According to NPR,
01:02McIver claimed that Melania had simply admired Michelle Obama,
01:06and thus she incorporated some of Michelle's sayings into Melania's speech.
01:09But in the face of heated criticism, McIver apologized, saying in a statement,
01:14"'This was my mistake, and I feel terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps,
01:18as well to Mrs. Obama. No harm was meant.'"
01:22"'And people of the world, thank you.'"
01:25Donald Trump's inauguration caught the attention of the nation,
01:28but it was an on-camera moment shared between him and Melania that had the internet buzzing.
01:33The temperature between the couple was ice cold when Melania smiled at Donald
01:37during his swearing-in ceremony, and then opted for a resting frown when he turned away.
01:42Immediately after, the internet went crazy, with some calling the first lady
01:46"'sad Melania'," and speculating that she was caught in an unhappy marriage.
01:51According to body language expert Patti Wood, Melania's smile-to-frown reaction was the result
01:56of being let down by the president during what could have been a moment between the two of them.
02:00Wood told Cosmo,
02:02"'Melania read it as, he's looking at me. What created her facial expression is that
02:06she was expecting a moment, because he looked back, but he didn't connect with her.'"
02:10Regardless of what really happened, it was certainly an awkward way to mark
02:14the historical moment. But don't worry, we've got more where this came from.
02:18The inauguration day awkwardness continued when the first couple danced at the official ball that
02:23evening. And with just a quick look, it's clear that the first lady was rigid in her posture,
02:28oftentimes pulling away from her husband's face.
02:31Millions of viewers took to social media to point out the body language on Melania's part,
02:35with one user posting,
02:37"'Melania's face while dancing with Trump reminds me of the first time I went to the gynecologist.'"
02:42Another wrote,
02:43"'Melania looks beautiful in her dress, but they look awkward dancing together.'"
02:47"'So beautiful. Like from a movie set, so beautiful.'"
02:51Expert Patti Wood broke it all down, telling Harper's Bazaar,
02:54"'They didn't seem to have intimate moments during the dance.
02:57It didn't seem to be about them as a couple.'"
02:59While they were dancing, Trump even sang along to the music and engaged with the audience,
03:04another factor in the awkward tension between him and Melania.
03:07Wood added,
03:08"'He was happy in the moment, but it didn't seem to be a shared, intimate moment.'"
03:13Trump's inauguration provided us so many awkward Melania moments that
03:17it's hard to keep track of them all. Nevertheless, here's another one.
03:20It all happened when the president-elect and his wife met with Barack and Michelle
03:24Obama at the White House. Melania, holding a gift for the outgoing Obamas,
03:28was seemingly swept to the side while the Donald made his way to his new home and office,
03:33not waiting even a beat for Melania to join him. As such, Patti Wood suggested of the scenario,
03:38"'He's not looking back. He's not waiting for her. He's not looking for her.
03:42And he's decided he wants to be introduced by himself, rather than as a couple unit. He's
03:47saying, I'm on my own. I am singular. I am president. That would be one way he shows his
03:52power.'" For the record, Melania was planning on staying in New York City until their son,
03:57Barron, finished up the 2017 school year. Maybe that kind of explains the vibe?
04:02If you thought Melania's awkward moments started at the swearing-in ceremony,
04:06it appears the first lady kicked off the Trump's 2017 arrival to the nation's capital
04:10with an awkward hand-holding moment that made everyone cringe. While exiting their plane,
04:16the then-president-elect reached for his wife, only for her to quickly grab his hand
04:20and drop it just as fast. The clunky moment was caught by major TV networks and was viewed by
04:26millions, who immediately offered their due sense. One user tweeted,
04:30"'She is trapped.'" With another writing,
04:32"'I think he needs to sign an executive order to force her to hold his hand.'"
04:36"'I don't care. You could criticize whatever you wanna say,
04:40but it will not stop me to do what I feel is right.'"
04:44Patti Wood explained that the very brief touching of hands was actually a sign of normalcy,
04:48and that hand-holding could be a daily habit of the couples. But the internet didn't agree
04:52with that assessment, and pointed to the very obvious awkwardness between the pair.
04:57But, as Wood noted to Harper's Bazaar,
04:59"...the brevity showed me that they're making a decision not to show intimacy in the public eye."
05:04Trump is known for chatting up reporters and photographers while exiting the White
05:08House to talk about his administration. In 2018, he was joined by Melania, and,
05:13in classic fashion, he took a minute to stop by the press. But this time, he left Melania
05:18not only by herself, but without any protection from the rain,
05:21and the whole awkward encounter was captured on camera. As Vanity Fair noted,
05:26"...the president couldn't help but interrupt their walk to the helicopter
05:29to go directly up to the news cameras."
05:31"...she did a great job on television the other night. And I didn't do so bad either."
05:36But, unlike Donald, Melania is famously not as keen on speaking to the press,
05:41and instead waited behind, in the rain, for him to wrap up. Not only did Donald not share
05:46his umbrella with his wife, but he also didn't make any effort to reciprocate her hand-holding.
05:51In a rare moment for this couple, Melania finally walked up to Donald and tried to
05:55hold his hand, only to find that he was holding a USA hat instead.
06:00As first lady, Melania has made numerous diplomatic appearances around the globe.
06:05In 2017, the president joined her during a visit to Israel, and, unfortunately,
06:10the trip conjured up one of the most-watched awkward interactions between the pair.
06:14Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sarah greeted the Trumps when they arrived,
06:19even rolling out the red carpet for them to walk down after exiting Air Force One.
06:23As the Trumps descended the stairs, Donald reached for his wife's hand,
06:27only for her to visibly swat him away from her. It was indeed the swat heard around the world,
06:32and the video capturing the awkward flick of the wrist was quickly uploaded to Twitter by
06:37a Middle Eastern media outlet. According to CNN, Melania later reciprocated her husband's efforts,
06:43as she and Donald were seen holding hands during their visit. But hand-holding is temporary,
06:47and that video on Twitter is forever.
06:50After the incident, Melania appeared to become more sly with her avoidance of her husband's
06:54hands. But even so, she awkwardly got out of locking fingers with Trump in 2018,
06:59and she used her clothing to obscure her available hand, hiding the interaction from the cameras.
07:05Luckily for us, Twitter is home to some beady-eyed watchers,
07:08and the moment quickly found its way to the internet, the video appeared to show Melania
07:13using her coat to tuck her hand away from her husband. He then forged on in,
07:17leading his wife to Air Force One, but the moment had already been captured forever.
07:21It may not have helped that the news of Donald's alleged 2006 affair with adult
07:26film star Stormy Daniels had just made serious headlines at the time.
07:30No one ever looked twice at me before, and now suddenly everyone's looking at me."
07:33But in the midst of all the hand-oriented missed connections between the couple,
07:37there was the very formal-seeming Joint Base Andrews incident.
07:41In 2017, Melania took the stage in front of members of the military
07:45and introduced her husband, who in turn offered his wife a handshake. To make matters worse,
07:50he then gestured for her to get off the stage. Of course,
07:53the awkward moment was not lost on the Twitterverse.
07:56"'Thank you very much. At ease. At ease.'"
08:00One user posted,
08:02"'Nothing says I love you my wife like a firm handshake and false pleasantries.'"
08:06And another asked,
08:07Did he give a slight push out of the way? Regardless of the intention,
08:10the interaction notched yet another awkward first lady moment.
08:15The names Donald Trump and Twitter almost feel synonymous due to the president's constant
08:20messaging and retweeting. But despite her own mellow social media presence, Melania has been
08:25known for some jaw-dropping tweets, and one tiny action in 2017 turned a lot of heads.
08:31The first lady's personal Twitter account liked, and then unliked,
08:34a tweet about her not being a fan of Donald. As it was her personal account and not the
08:39official FLOTUS Twitter, it was easy to spot. The tweet in question was posted by writer
08:44Andy Ostroi and read,
08:45"'Seems the only wall Donald Trump has built is the one between him and Melania Trump.'"
08:50"'I support my husband 100 percent.'"
08:53We don't know if Melania's liking of the tweet was a slip-up, a hack, or a purposeful display
08:58of her true feelings towards her husband, but the internet caught it, and we can't unsee what we saw.
09:03"'The best is yet to come.'"
09:08The 2020 Republican National Convention really was the event that just kept on giving.
09:14From Kimberly Guilfoyle's very loud speech to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell claiming
09:18that Democrats want to limit the amount of hamburgers people eat, the whole affair was
09:23pretty wild. But no moment caught the attention of social media more than Melania's greeting of
09:28Ivanka Trump on stage and the apparent exasperated eye roll that accompanied it.
09:33"...and the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump."
09:40After the president's daughter made the introductions as Trump accepted his second
09:44nomination, Melania smiled at her, but immediately seemed to widen her eyes with an apparent sense
09:49of grief. We don't know exactly what the first lady was thinking or why she reacted to Ivanka
09:53the way she did, but the moment sure opened some eyes.
09:57This may be one of the only viral moments that actually worked in Melania's favor.
10:01While visiting Poland in 2017, the president and Melania met Poland's first lady and the
10:06Polish president. But after shaking President Duda's hand, the Donald extended his hand to
10:11First Lady Duda. But instead of taking it, she promptly walked past him and greeted Melania
10:17first. Following suit, the internet had a blast with the viral footage.
10:21"...I want to thank President and Mrs. Duda for their warm welcome."
10:27Of course, Poland's first lady eventually shook Donald's hand, but the awkward exchange
10:31and Melania's surprised expression regarding the whole incident shook viewers, with one
10:36YouTube user posting,
10:37"...the Polish first lady knows what's up. Ladies first."
10:42If Trump is known for anything, it is his apparent love of the national anthem and the
10:46American flag, which he has hugged and kissed in the past. But his passion for all things
10:51patriotic hit the skids in 2017. During the annual White House Easter egg roll, Melania
10:56was forced to nudge Donald to put his hand over his heart during the anthem, and like
11:01many of their clunky interactions, it went viral.
11:04"...on behalf of the president and baron, and happy Easter."
11:10As guests looked on, the first lady and the couple's son baron put their hands over their
11:15hearts when the anthem began, but the president did not. After his wife's nudge, however,
11:20Donald quickly realized the error of his ways.
11:23It seems like Melania has a habit of correcting Trump's behavior, and because of the couple's
11:28high-profile existence, most of those moments are captured forever on video. So, in yet
11:33another bumbling interaction, Melania asked Donald where his sunglasses were as he looked
11:38straight at the sun during the 2017 solar eclipse. This time, an entire audience witnessed
11:44the moment firsthand. Remember, when you watch the eclipse without special glasses, you can
11:48really damage your eyes.
11:50Well, on Monday, President Trump stared directly into the sun."
11:56Of course, the president quickly produced a pair of glasses from his pocket, but the
12:00internet had a field day over the awkward exchange between him and his wife. As The
12:04Guardian noted,
12:05"...at approximately 2.39, the president initially gesticulated to the crowd below
12:10and pointed at the sky. As he did so, one of the White House aides standing beneath
12:14the Blue Room balcony shouted,
12:15Don't look!"
12:17Ivanka Trump is no stranger to the limelight. Though she started her career as a model after
12:22her father became president, her role in his administration thrust her into the international
12:27spotlight. As she's not exactly a trained diplomat, sometimes it can lead to some seriously
12:32awkward situations.
12:34Sometimes when you're the daughter of the president and an unofficial foreign advisor,
12:38it's hard to know exactly where you fall in the photo-op pecking order. This was especially
12:43apparent at the 2019 G20 summit in Japan, when Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump, and Secretary
12:49of State Mike Pompeo lined up for a photo with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
12:54As seen in this video in CNN, Ivanka opted to stand right next to Moon's wife, which
12:59would presumably have been the place of the American first lady. Since Melania Trump wasn't
13:04at the summit, Ivanka appeared to assume she would be standing in the first lady's spot.
13:09Meanwhile, Secretary of State Pompeo was left awkwardly shuffling behind the lineup,
13:13relegated to the second row while Ivanka took the limelight.
13:16Eventually feeling Pompeo's nudge at her back, Ivanka realized she was in the wrong spot,
13:22and she somewhat reluctantly moved aside so the Secretary of State could take his rightful spot.
13:26The rest of the photo-op went off smoothly, but it certainly served as a reminder that
13:30Ivanka doesn't always remember where she falls in line, somewhat literally.
13:35Have you ever been at a party, talking with three or four of your best friends,
13:38when some person nobody invited stands around you desperately trying to butt in?
13:42Yeah, now imagine your crew consists of the prime ministers of the UK and Canada,
13:47the president of France, and the director of the International Monetary Fund,
13:51and that party crasher is a fashion model-turned-unofficial diplomat.
13:54To say that collection of leaders looked massively confused as to why Ivanka Trump
13:59was at the 2019 G20 summit would be an understatement. It was so painful that
14:04the French presidential palace even released a video of it, presumably to give the public
14:09a taste of the kind of awkwardness the assembled world leaders were dealing with.
14:12Donald Trump's detractors didn't waste a minute pouncing on the incident either,
14:17with tweets like one quipping that this was, quote,
14:19"...the very reason there's a table for adults and one for children."
14:23IMF managing director Christine Lagarde's side-eye got plenty of love online as well.
14:29It didn't take long for Ivanka Trump to realize interview questions in the political world hit a
14:33little harder than they do when you're simply the daughter of a reality TV star. We can only
14:38speculate that when Ivanka agreed to an interview with Cosmopolitan magazine in September 2016,
14:43she wasn't exactly expecting Diane Sawyer. But Cosmo's Prachi Gupta brought the heat,
14:48grilling the then-34-year-old on why Donald Trump's paid maternity leave plan did not
14:53include help for male same-sex couples. Gupta also asked about Donald's 2004
14:58assertion that pregnancy is, quote, "...inconvenient for a business."
15:02It's certainly an inconvenience for a business."
15:04Ivanka responded,
15:05"...I think that you have a lot of negativity in these questions,
15:08and I think my father has put forth a very comprehensive
15:12and really revolutionary plan to deal with a lot of issues,
15:15so I don't know how useful it is to spend too much time with you on this
15:19if you're going to make a comment like that."
15:21Ivanka then cut the interview short after a series of flustered answers, saying,
15:25"...I'm going to jump off. I have to run. I apologize."
15:28A couple days later, she tweeted,
15:30"...cosmopolitan, your readers do and should care about issues impacting women and children.
15:35Keep the focus where it belongs. Advocating change."
15:39After years as a fashion model and arbiter of style, it only stands to reason that Ivanka
15:43Trump's next move would be… canned beans spokesperson? This would have seemed to be
15:48the case in July 2020, when Ivanka tweeted out a picture of herself holding up a can
15:53of Goya black beans, with the caption,
15:55If it's Goya, it has to be good.
15:58And though she did it to support Goya in the wake of a political
16:01controversy related to Goya's CEO supporting her father,
16:05she looked about as natural holding the can as an elephant holding a pastry brush.
16:09Late-night talk show hosts piled on, naturally.
16:11"...I'm not sure if Ivanka's trying to promote Goya or she's auditioning
16:14to be a model on The Price is Right."
16:19Seth Meyers was slightly less diplomatic.
16:21"...Look at that. That's the closest she's ever gotten to working.
16:24You just know she's sore today. Oh! Oh, my bicep."
16:28The tense relationship between first lady Melania Trump and her stepdaughter Ivanka
16:32Trump is no secret, but it came to a head just two days before the 2020 Republican National
16:37Convention, when Stephanie Winston Wolkoff's Melania and Me, The Rise and Fall of My Friendship
16:43with the First Lady hit the shelves. Wolkoff, who claims to have been close to the first lady,
16:48alleged that Melania had actively tried to prevent Ivanka from appearing in pictures
16:52at the 2017 inauguration. Wolkoff wrote,
16:55"...Yes, Operation Block Ivanka was petty. But in our minds, Ivanka shouldn't have made herself
17:00the center of attention in her father's inauguration."
17:04The hip-touch scene round the world still stands as one of the oddest greetings ever
17:08seen at a political convention. When Donald Trump greeted his daughter Ivanka Trump after
17:13she introduced him at the 2016 Republican National Convention by putting his hands, well,
17:19where plenty of critics thought they did not belong. Twitter reacted as you might expect.
17:24One tweet read,
17:25"...what is wrong with this man?"
17:27Another asked,
17:28"...okay so did anyone see Trump checking out Ivanka?"
17:31Body language expert Patti Wood told Us Weekly,
17:34"...he patted her in a sexually dismissive way. I want to be clear that is not even a
17:40pat you would give to a child under the age of five. You would pat them higher up on the back."
17:46The oddly inappropriate train just kept chugging along with Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump,
17:50making a stop at a North Dakota rally where the president was giving a speech on tax reform.
17:55Though he didn't delve into why, exactly, Ivanka needed to be present,
17:59Donald did give the crowd a bit of a clue.
18:01"...Come on up, honey. She's so good. She wanted to make the trip. She said,
18:04Dad, can I go with you? She actually said, Daddy, can I go with you? I like that, right?"
18:09Ivanka was 35 at the time, we might add, and mostly ignored the comment. Instead,
18:14she gave some brief comments to the energy workers assembled at the rally.
18:17Predictably, Twitter had a lot to say about it, with one user tweeting,
18:21"...so the moral of the story is that Ivanka doesn't have anything to do,
18:25so she wants to ride on the big airplane with her daddy."
18:29Ivanka Trump was interviewed by Fox News in February 2019 on her thoughts regarding
18:34the Democrats' Green New Deal and what it means for Americans.
18:37"...I don't think most Americans, in their heart, want to be given something."
18:43The heiress to the Trump empire continued, without a hint of irony,
18:47"...people want to work for what they get. I think that this idea of a guaranteed minimum
18:53is not something most people want. They want the ability to be able to secure a job.
18:58They want the ability to live in a country where there's the potential for upward mobility."
19:03Never one to let stunning irony go unnoticed,
19:06Green New Deal co-author Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted,
19:10"...as a person who actually worked for tips and hourly wages in my life,
19:14instead of having to learn about it secondhand,
19:16I can tell you that most people want to be paid enough to live."
19:20Always one to have his daughter's back, Donald Trump told a gathering of American governors
19:24a few days later that his daughter was responsible for the creation of millions of jobs. As reported
19:29by CBS News, he did not elaborate on what exactly those jobs were, or how she secured them.
19:36There's nothing quite like the pain of posting a big, gushing video about someone and getting...
19:42crickets. Just ask Ivanka Trump, who was apparently very excited for her supermodel
19:47sister-in-law Karlie Kloss' debut as host of Season 17 of Project Runway.
19:51The night of the premiere in 2019, Ivanka tweeted a giddy video,
19:55"'Kloss, Karlie, it's happening!'
19:58"'We're going to be scoring through the signs as they come down the runway.'"
20:03Kloss, however, left her hanging. No like, no mention.
20:08It wasn't the first time Kloss had dissed the wife of husband Josh Kushner's brother.
20:12When Kloss announced her engagement on Instagram, Ivanka commented,
20:16saying she was looking forward to creating happy memories as a family.
20:19But Kloss didn't respond, and the comment has since been deleted.
20:22As of the making of this video, Kloss doesn't follow Ivanka on any platforms,
20:26and she has diplomatically said in interviews she prefers to distance
20:30herself from the first family. She told Vogue UK,
20:33"'It's been hard, but I choose to focus on the values that I share with my husband,
20:37and those are the same liberal values that I was raised with and that have guided me
20:40throughout my life.'"
20:42Though Ivanka Trump has proven herself to be an adept public speaker,
20:45she didn't exactly leave him in stitches at the 2019 Gridiron Club dinner.
20:49For the unfamiliar, the dinner is basically a big, bipartisan banquet with reporters
20:54and politicians taking lighthearted jabs at each other. Think White House Correspondents'
20:58Association dinner, but less biting and without the TV coverage. Presidents have attended all
21:03the way back to William McKinley, but in 2019, Donald Trump asked daughter Ivanka to fill in
21:09for him. Ivanka opened her remarks by saying she'd just been asked to speak that afternoon,
21:14in fact, so she didn't have much time to prepare. Ivanka reportedly quipped,
21:18"...I figured the funniest thing I could do was read excerpts from The Green New Deal."
21:23Alluding to AOC's previous Twitter comments slamming her, she continued, saying,
21:27"...the press seems to think it's ironic that I, born of great privilege,
21:31think people want to work for what they were given, as if being Donald Trump's
21:34daughter isn't the hardest job in the world. Though we were not in attendance,
21:38we can imagine just a single laugh, a cough, and clinking water glasses could be heard in
21:43the background."
21:44We've all had that unfortunate moment when you think you've got your look absolutely nailed,
21:49you walk outside, and a big gust of wind instantly undoes an entire morning of styling. But hey,
21:55at least you weren't standing next to the vice president of Colombia in front of hundreds of
21:59international photographers. Such was the fate of Ivanka Trump when she set out on an official
22:04visit to Colombia to promote the Trump administration's Women's Global Development
22:08and Prosperity Initiative. While the trip was successful and Ivanka got to meet the group's
22:12first participants, as noted by Newsweek, her work was collectively pushed to the backburner
22:18when the military green dress she wore got caught in a blast of wind during a photo-op.
22:23The bell sleeves popped all the way back to her shoulders,
22:26prompting The Daily Beast's Molly Jong-Fast to dub it on Twitter the dress that launched
22:31a thousand gardening jokes. That was one of the nicer ones. Jong-Fast also joked that Ivanka was
22:36reforesting the Amazon one couture dress at a time. Writer Steve Silberman quipped,
22:42"...Ivanka Trump snared by Venus flytrap in unfortunate botanical incident."
22:47Donald Trump's frequent comments about daughter Ivanka Trump's appearance have been fodder for
22:52media commentary since long before he entered the political sphere. Way back in 2006, Donald was on
22:57a different kind of campaign trail, hitting the talk show circuit to promote the first season of
23:01The Apprentice. He and Ivanka appeared on The View, and host Star Jones cut right into the
23:07awkwardness by asking what Donald would do if Ivanka were asked to pose for Playboy.
23:13I don't think Ivanka would do that inside the magazine, although she does have a very nice
23:16figure. I've said that if Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her."
23:21Ivanka flashed a nervous smile while the hosts and audience laughed.
23:24Host Joy Behar compared Donald Trump to Woody Allen. Ivanka just kept on smiling.
23:30Trump's PR team later issued a statement saying he was joking and
23:33simply making a self-deprecating comment about his tendency to date younger women.
23:38All teens have awkward moments, even if they're the son of a president.
23:42From a weird hand swat during a parade to a hilarious high-five fail,
23:48Barron Trump's uncomfortable moments just happen to be seen by millions.
23:53During Donald Trump's four years in office, the world learned a great deal about his golfing
23:58obsession, his preference for Diet Coke, and his fondness for using all caps in his tweets.
24:04But the one topic that has remained a mystery has been Trump's youngest son,
24:08Barron. The older Trump children — Donald Jr., Ivanka, Eric, and Tiffany — helped campaign
24:15for their father, kept his private businesses running, and even served in his administration.
24:21But Barron has been kept away from the public eye so that he can enjoy a normal life.
24:26His mother, Melania Trump, is said to be especially protective of him.
24:30Her last public acknowledgment of her son was a tweet in March 2021.
24:35Posting a photo of balloons showing the number 15, she wrote simply,
24:40"'Happy Birthday BWT.'"
24:42As hard as his parents have tried to preserve his privacy,
24:46there have been a few times over the years in which the youngest Trump has been seen acting his age.
24:51We all like to think our children hang on to every word we say, but of course,
24:55that's totally not true. Even kids of the rich and powerful have moments where they
25:00tune mom and dad out. That was the case for Barron Trump back in July of 2016,
25:06when he attended a campaign event for his dad. Just 10 years old at the time,
25:10Barron was seated in a row with his mom and several members of his extended family,
25:15so there was no chance for him to escape the room — or the TV cameras.
25:20During the speech, ABC News caught Barron looking less than thrilled to hear his father
25:25talking about political issues. He rubbed the arm of the seat with his sleeve. He yawned.
25:31He even jiggled his water bottle. Melania briefly cast a glance at her son,
25:35but chose not to correct him publicly.
25:38Commenters on the YouTube video were sympathetic to the preteen. One viewer wrote,
25:43"'Poor kid. He just wants to go home and play some Minecraft.'"
25:47In all fairness, nobody asked Barron Trump whether he wanted to be uprooted from his
25:52luxurious gold-and-marble Manhattan penthouse and forced to start over in D.C.
25:57Nobody gave him a say in the rules presidential kids are expected to obey,
26:01such as having to be followed everywhere by a Secret Service detail, and not being allowed
26:06to leave the White House unattended. So if he wasn't feeling super enthusiastic about
26:11his father's inauguration day, we can give him a little leeway. Following the rituals,
26:17music, and speeches of the swearing-in, the Trump family made the traditional walk down
26:22Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. Walking slightly ahead of his parents,
26:27Barron smiled and waved to the cheering crowd. At one point, the parade turned a corner,
26:33bringing the tween next to his mother. In an awkward moment that was caught by TV cameras,
26:39Melania reached out her left hand to Barron, who quickly swatted it away.
26:44Perhaps he felt holding Mom's hand in public was a little too babyish for a 10-year-old.
26:49Whatever the reason, it made for an uncomfortable moment in an otherwise triumphant day.
26:54"...and that's what's happened bigly."
26:55The rejected public display of affection wasn't Barron's only cringey move on inauguration day.
27:01Later in the ceremony, cameras caught the newly-minted first lady trying to connect
27:06with her son yet again. But what was meant to be a quick high-five moment
27:10turned into a hilarious sequence of near-misses. Melania's hand went up,
27:16Barron's didn't. She put her hand down, he put his up. She raised hers again, he turned away.
27:22Then Barron turned back and swung, nearly smacking his mom on the arm.
27:28Uncomfortable interviews, overly-edited Instagram pics, and creepy Halloween costumes.
27:33Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle may be the Republican version of an ideal couple,
27:38but their relationship can be borderline cringeworthy at times.
27:41Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle began their relationship in 2018.
27:46Don Jr. was fresh off his divorce from his ex-wife, Vanessa Trump,
27:49whom he allegedly cheated on with Aubrey O'Day. Guilfoyle, on the other hand,
27:54had been married twice already and seemed to be way more excited about Don Jr. than he was about
27:58her. Admittedly, public appearances don't always capture the true dynamic of a relationship,
28:03but Don Jr. certainly doesn't help things by sharing slightly demeaning jokes about his fiancée.
28:08For instance, back in 2023, he called her abroad on Instagram and claimed it was an inside joke.
28:14Don Jr. has often defended these comments about Guilfoyle, but we wonder why he doesn't save the
28:18teasing for their private moments and protect Guilfoyle from the internet's meanness.
28:23The couple's nicknames for each other are another awkward bit of TMI that no one asked for.
28:28During a Turning Point USA campus rally in 2018,
28:31Guilfoyle openly called Don Jr. mints and promoted their self-designed ship name,
28:35Donberly. A few months later, Page Six reported that Don's nickname for Guilfoyle was Pooh Bear.
28:41One theory is that Don's choice references sleazy antagonist Warner Huntington III from Legally
28:46Blonde, who called Elle Woods Pooh Bear. Junior Mints, on the other hand, is said to be more
28:50heartfelt. A friend of the couple reportedly told Page Six that Guilfoyle often says that Don Jr.
28:56is sweet, like Junior Mints candy. As for Donberly, we have no idea where that one came from.
29:02Without a doubt, an image of Guilfoyle and Don Jr. taken at the 2023 Conservative Political
29:07Action Conference, or CPAC, is a strong contender for the cringiest photo ever.
29:11Don Jr.'s entire body language seems stiff, and he almost seems to be holding a breath
29:16and pushing his chest out. Sadly, Guilfoyle doesn't look any better. And although we'd
29:21like to imagine that this image was a bad attempt at merging two separate photos,
29:25the image is real, and was taken on the first day of the event.
29:28Worse still, these pictures were not the only embarrassing occurrence of the day.
29:32Don Jr. also tried to give Willy Wonka a run for his money. At one point during his speech,
29:37the first son said to the crowd to check under their seats for a gold chocolate bar. He then added,
29:43"...that's a VIP ticket to my father's reception tomorrow at CPAC."
29:51In 2019, Don Jr. and Guilfoyle made a joint appearance on The View.
29:55The pair were scheduled to discuss Don's new book, Triggered, but the different political
29:59stances of the guests and hosts soon caused multiple arguments. At one point,
30:04Meghan McCain tore into Don Jr. for his father's brutish way of speaking to Gold Star families,
30:08fellow politicians, and even her father, John McCain, who had passed away.
30:13"...the pain, inflicting pain on so many people wouldn't have been worth it to me
30:16or my family to the White House, so I just want to know, is it worth it?"
30:20Don Jr. responded that his father had been attacked more than any other president and
30:24was merely fighting fire with fire. But given the president's attacks on Gold Star families,
30:28this answer clearly didn't satisfy McCain and her co-hosts. However, Guilfoyle was quick to
30:34come to her man's defense, explaining that she had also lost her parents and understood Meghan's pain.
30:40"...it breaks my heart to hear anybody say anything about your father."
30:43She went on to explain that the Trumps were the real victims, because their family was
30:47frequently attacked. Expectedly, the hosts weren't having it, and Whoopi Goldberg responded,
30:52"...part of being president is having a pair that can take whatever heat comes towards you."
30:58Everyone's guilty of a little Photoshop now and then, but Guilfoyle and Don Jr. have taken it
31:03too far. A few months after going public with their relationship, Guilfoyle uploaded a picture
31:08of her and Don to Instagram. Right away, it was clear that the image had been badly over-edited.
31:13It had been airbrushed so much that there were no human-like features on either Don or Guilfoyle.
31:18They had no pores or expression lines, and Don Jr. seemed to have an artificial sparkle in his eyes.
31:24The photo seemed so glossy and unnatural that it quickly became an internet meme.
31:28Even Chrissy Teigen took a shot at the couple on X by reposting their picture and captioning it,
31:33"...hello, we are robots. Smiling is opening your lips and exposing your teeth,
31:38until you feel a light tension on the outer corners of your mouth."
31:42We imagine that Guilfoyle and Don Jr.'s shared political beliefs are a strong pillar of their
31:46relationship. However, their seeming inability to have politics-free interests is annoying,
31:51to say the least. During Halloween 2019, the couple decided to use the holiday to
31:55point out that Donald Trump Sr. was being witch-hunted. Guilfoyle chose to dress up as
32:00a witch and Don Jr. as the hunter, using hashtags like Witch Hunt and MAGA.
32:04Not only were the photos embarrassing, they were not very flattering.
32:08It's also sad that they seem unable to enjoy a simple holiday without making a political
32:12statement. It's not the first time the couple has tried to hijack Halloween for the president,
32:17either. Don Jr. also made a joke about taxing his daughter's Halloween candy
32:21to teach her about socialism in an attempt to shade Democrats.
32:26Contradicting her dad? An altered video? From the House Committee to Qatar,
32:31here are some of Ivanka Trump's most awkward public appearances.
32:35Following her time in the White House, Ivanka Trump seemed to follow her bliss by spending
32:39lots of time with husband Jared Kushner and their children doing non-political things.
32:44Her Instagram account, on the rare occasions that she updated it,
32:47was dotted with photos of herself and her family traveling, having fun, and relaxing.
32:52Oddly enough, one of these posts went viral,
32:54and not because people were so interested in her pursuit of leisure.
32:58On September 18, 2022, Ivanka posted a video on Instagram of herself wakesurfing behind a
33:04boat in Miami, Florida. People had the strangest reaction to it, claiming that Ivanka faked the
33:09video and was wakesurfing in front of a green screen. One person commented,
33:13"'Fake,' while another person commented,
33:15"'Photoshopped.' Someone else wrote,
33:18"'Sorry, it looks green-screened.'"
33:19Ivanka was unfazed by these comments, though, because a year later, on September 5, 2023,
33:25she posted new content of herself wakesurfing again. People seemed to have the same reaction
33:30yet again. One person wrote in the comments,
33:32"'Love her, but the photo and video looks fake. Her feet did not get wet at all.'"
33:37Well, despite the criticism, Ivanka clearly won't stop wakesurfing or posting content about it.
33:42In one of the more intensely awkward moments from Ivanka Trump,
33:45the former White House senior advisor spoke out against President Donald Trump to the House
33:50committee. Ivanka offered testimony about the events that took place on January 6,
33:542021, as well as her take on President Trump's claims that there was election fraud.
33:59The Trump family has famously offered a united front, portraying themselves
34:03as the connected family standing up to a media barrage against their bombastic patriarch.
34:08However, when Ivanka testified, this facade fell apart. While speaking to the committee,
34:13Ivanka agreed with Attorney General Bill Barr that there was no evidence of election fraud.
34:18I respect Attorney General Barr, so I accepted what he was saying."
34:27She also notified the committee that President Trump had indeed watched the violence that
34:31occurred on January 6 and was well aware of what was happening at the Capitol.
34:35While this level of betrayal must have certainly been intense between the father and daughter,
34:39it's clear that Ivanka was committed to making a comeback, along with husband Jared Kushner,
34:44after their stint in the White House. And no matter how awkward the testimony was,
34:48Ivanka has been clear about separating herself from her father's future political ambitions.
34:54Because you'll never take back our country with weakness."
34:58The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar was a very controversial event,
35:03boycotted by many celebrities and A-listers because the sovereign state has controversial
35:08policies around migrants, women's rights, and those of the LGBTQ plus community.
35:13So many in positions of influence spoke out against the country,
35:16claiming that it wasn't right to attend the event simply because of the location.
35:20However, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and their three children, Arabella,
35:24Joseph, and Theodore, attended the World Cup in Qatar. In fact, there were several
35:29photographs taken of Ivanka and Jared watching the matches from a private box
35:33and talking with Qatar's prime minister, Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz al-Sani.
35:38They also spent time with Qatari billionaire Nasser al-Khalifi,
35:42who's also the president of French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain.
35:46Ivanka wore an all-white midi dress to the event with long sleeves and a high neckline.
35:50Her children and husband were dressed casually.
35:52The controversial trip to Qatar came on the heels of an extended family trip to the Middle East.
35:58Shortly before the World Cup, Ivanka posted on social media that they had visited the
36:02Egyptian pyramids, potentially to illustrate that they were in that part of the world anyway.