Is it any wonder she didn’t want to hold his hand?
US President Donald Trump has revealed he was simply too “busy” to buy his wife Melania a birthday present.
Mrs Trump turned 48 on Thursday.
In a 30-minute interview with his favourite right-wing talk show Fox & Friends – described by some political commentators as an “unhinged rant” – the president said he bought his wife a nice card.
“I picked a very, very special day because it’s Melania’s birthday, so I said ‘let’s do it on Melania’s birthday’, so happy birthday to Melania.”
“Do you want to tell us what you got her?” asked one of the hosts.
“Well, I better not get into that because I may get in trouble. Maybe I didn’t get her so much,” he professed. “I got her a beautiful card. I’m very busy to be running out looking for presents.”
It’s not like the White House employs hundreds of staff who may have been able to purchase something for him.
But apparently it was a very nice card.
“I got her a beautiful card and some beautiful flowers and she did a fantastic job with France.”
It’s not a generous gesture for his wife who spent this week hosting French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte during their state visit.
The French presidential couple’s three-day tour of Washington was the first state visit from a foreign leader during the Trump administration.
The reclusive first lady was centre stage, orchestrating a state dinner at the White House also attended by Rupert Murdoch, and touring the National Gallery of Art with Mrs Macron.
But all diplomatic efforts threatened to be overshadowed by a domestic battle occurring between the Trumps and a viral video of Mrs Trump refusing to hold her husband’s hand. Again.
The couple’s only public displays of affection are a slow-motion car crash series of awkward air kisses and Mrs Trump swatting away her husband’s attempts to touch her.
In footage from the Macrons’ welcome at the White House, broadcaster MSNBC unwittingly captured Mr Trump’s subtle attempts to hold his wife’s hand.
She pulls her hand away as Mr Trump repeatedly extends his pinkie finger and at one point grimaces before finally relenting.
Mrs Macron provided rare insight into Mrs Trump’s personality during an interview in which she also described the Slovenian-born former model as a prisoner within the White House.
She described Mrs Trump as “actually really fun” and insisted the first lady was “kind, charming, intelligent and very open”, contrary to popular opinion.
“We have the same sense of humour. We laugh a lot together.”
But she also painted a sad portrait of Mrs Trump as someone who had lost any personal freedom after her husband became president.
“She’s someone who has a strong personality, but works hard to hide it. She laughs very easily, at everything, but shows it less than I do,” Mrs Macron told French newspaper Le Monde.
“Melania can not do anything. She can’t even open a window at the White House. She can’t go outside. She’s much more constrained than I am. I go out every day in Paris.”