Donald and Melania Trump were caught on camera having what looked like a sharp exchange outside the White House on Wednesday night.
As Marine One landed on the South Lawn, the President could be seen talking animatedly. At one point, he wagged his finger, while Melania shook her head. The video quickly spread online. Viewers wondered if the First Couple were in the middle of a fight.
But according to the Daily Mail, the moment was not a blazing row.
CHOPPER CLASH
Trump waves finger at wife Melania who shakes her head as they are caught in awkward conversation pic.twitter.com/J48qC9ttul— Simo Saadi🇺🇸🇲🇦 (@Simo7809957085) September 26, 2025
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Jeremy Freeman, a forensic lip reader who has been used as a witness in UK courts, told the paper: “From my interpretation, I don’t think Donald Trump was having a go at Melania Trump — but at the shenanigans at the UN.”
Freeman said Melania seemed to tell Trump, “You just continued,” while Trump replied, “It was unbelievable. How can you do that.” At one point, she appeared to say, “Donald, look at me.”
So what looked like finger-wagging fury was, in his view, finger-wagging about an escalator.
Another British lip reader, Nicola Hickling, saw it differently. She told the Daily Mail that Trump was being protective of his wife. According to Hickling, the President said: “I can’t forgive them, they tried to hurt you.” Melania then answered: “We can’t do this, we should stay safe, you’re not safe.” Trump ended with: “They’re done. We must challenge them.”
It was a very different take, but both experts agreed the chat was about the United Nations trip — not about dinner plans or missing anniversaries.
The timing makes sense. Just hours before, Trump and Melania had their now famous “escalator gate” moment at the UN. As the pair stepped onto the moving escalator, it abruptly stopped. Both had to steady themselves before walking off.
Trump later claimed the breakdown was no accident. He told allies it was part of a “triple sabotage” against him. He said the escalator failure came along with a teleprompter crash and audio problems during his speech.
Featured image via X screengrab
