Melania Trump Appears to Swat Away President Trump's Hand

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump may be putting on a display of companionship [...]

By Allison Schonter

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump may be putting on a display of companionship amid the Stormy Daniels bombshell allegations, but a strain still appears to be on their relationship.

While leaving the White House Monday to board Marine One en route to Cincinnati, Ohio, the First Lady appeared to swat away the President's hand as he made a move to grab it, the Daily Mail reports. She further thwarted any possibilities of holding hands by shielding her hand behind the canary yellow full-length overcoat she was wearing.

This isn't the first time that the First Lady has seemingly swatted her husband's hand away. In May 2016, Melania accompanied her husband during his first international trip as president. As the couple arrived at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel, the President appeared to reach out towards his wife, who seemingly rebuffed him with a flick of the wrist.

More recently, the First Lady caused eyebrows to raise during the State of the Union address when she opted not to stand during the President's comments on family values.

"In America we know that faith and Family, not government and bureaucracy are the center of Democracy," the President stated, earning him a standing ovation from everyone except his wife.

Speculation that the First Lady may be slighting the President, and that their marriage may be in turmoil, was only fueled by the fact that she broke a year-long tradition when she arrived to the State of the Union address in a separate limousine from her husband. Just the week prior, she had opted not to accompany him to Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum.

The cold shoulder comes after the flood of news stories about the president's alleged relationship with adult actress Stormy Daniels. Daniels told reporters in 2011 that she had had a years-long affair with Trump starting in 2006, just four months after Melania Trump gave birth to Barron, the family's youngest son, now 11.

Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was alleged to have paid the adult actress $130,000 in hush money to keep the affair quiet, and she has yet to go public with it. When the story went public anyway, Melania was reportedly furious with her husband. Sources close to the First Lady even said she intended to "keep a low profile" and avoid the State of the Union address altogether.

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