The real buzz, though, came from the photos of Melania and that enigmatic smile of hers, which a body language expert has now broken down.
Donald Trump’s speech at the UN in New York got off to a rocky start when his teleprompter malfunctioned. It wasn’t the only glitch of the day, either. Earlier, as he and Melania rode up an escalator inside the building, it stopped dead. Both turned around, looking puzzled, and asked what was going on. The White House wasn’t thrilled and reportedly pushed for an investigation, wondering if someone had tampered with it to embarrass the president. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt even told Fox News there would be “accountability” if intent was proven.
The UN, for its part, chalked it up to a safety feature accidentally triggering. Melania was standing just ahead of her husband when it happened. She’d just returned from what seemed like a successful state visit to the UK the week before. These days, she tends to stay out of the public eye, so details about her life are pretty sparse. But Donald shared a lighthearted health tidbit about her during his speech to the diplomats.
He joked that the only thing the UN gave him was “an escalator that on the way up stopped right in the middle,” then added, “If the first lady wasn’t in great shape, she would’ve fallen.”
Melania stuck around for the full hour-long speech—apparently the longest ever by a U.S. president at the UN. Yet it was her expression that grabbed the most attention.
Body language pro Judi James chatted with the Daily Mail about how Melania handled the escalator fiasco compared to her husband. While Donald vented frustration, Melania kept her cool with what James called a “Sphynx-like” smile.
“As her husband roasted, toasted and scorched his audience like s’mores on a campfire, Melania sat elegantly in her seat with just a small eye-dart suggesting she was in any way associated or involved with the man on stage,” James explained. “She did bother herself to produce a subtle wry smile of agreement though as Trump raged against the broken escalator that could have ditched both himself and his FLOTUS had they not been so admirably fit.”
A Subtle “Smile of Agreement”
It’s fascinating how these little moments reveal so much, right? What do you make of Melania Trump overall? Drop your thoughts in the comments on Facebook!
