First Lady Melania Trump 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 his first State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Donald Trump touched on a number of topics, including unity in Congress, economic development, immigration reform, crime, and family values, a topic that notably didn’t sit well with the First Lady.
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“In America we know that faith and Family, not government and bureaucracy are the center of Democracy,” the President stated.
The comment was met with a standing ovation from the crowd, all except for an actual member of his family. Melania Trump remained seated with an icy look on her face, leading many to speculate that all is not well in the White House.
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 First Lady’s reactions, or lack thereof, during the State of the Union address also had people believing that there is tension in the White House. Throughout the duration of the speech, cameras panned to Melania Trump, who seemed unhappy or gave off a blank stare, some even claiming that her clapping seemed emotionless.
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.
