President Donald Trump needed his wife, first lady Melania Trump, to give him some assistance while speaking to the press this week.
Trump, 79, and Melania, 55, invited technology industry heavyweights to the White House’s State Dining Room on Sept. 4 for a Sept. 4 event focused on artificial intelligence.
The Trump-hosted dinner included billionaire guests such as Apple CEO Tim Cook, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Even though the gathering was centered around AI innovation, a journalist questioned Trump about a foreign policy.
“After your phone call with Ukrainian President, do you plan to speak with Russia’s President Putin in the near future?” the reporter directly asked the president.
Trump tilted his head and then turned toward Melania, who was seated next to him at the table. The clearly confused MAGA leader was forced to ask his spouse, “What did—what?”
The ex-fashion model quickly whispered to Trump, “If you will speak with President Putin in the near future.” After receiving backup from the first lady, the president said, “Yes, I will be.”
Footage of that exchange between Trump and Melania became internet gold for critics of the polarizing right-wing politician. For example, an Instagram user expressed, “He’s not competent.”
“They’re getting very desperate if he’s rolling her out and she agreed. What a devious pair they are,” one person commented on the social networking app.
A second commenter joked, “Ok, gramps, time for your nappy poo!” A third alluded to Trump being nearly 80 years old by writing, “He’s such an old geezer! We need age limits!”
Trump’s handlers faced backlash as well. For instance, someone wondered, “How can anyone think he is ok? Shame on the people around him.”
“And y’all were on Biden daily and want to act like this is ok,” another person pointed out, referring to the constant discussions about former President Joe Biden, 82, appearing feeble during his one term.
In addition, a similar comment read, “This would be the lead story of Fox News for a week if [former first lady] Jill Biden had done this with Joe.”
Trump’s health has been a major topic online over the last several weeks. “The Apprentice” reality television star created a media firestorm when he was noticeably absent from speaking in public between Aug. 26 and Aug. 28.
Speculation about whether Trump was gravely ill took over social media timelines. Conspiracy theories spread for days as some of the president’s haters prematurely danced on his grave, and many of his followers were worried the worst had happened.
Trump eventually returned to the public eye, quashing the inaccurate rumors of his permanent demise. During a press conference on Sept. 2, the POTUS had the chance to respond to people thinking he had died.
“Really? I didn’t see that,” Trump told Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy when confronted with information about the social media engagement numbers connected to his falsely assumed passing.
However, the New York City native immediately contradicted himself about not knowing about the #TrumpIsDead trend when he said, “No, I heard that. I get reports.”
Two days later, Trump cracked a joke about social media killing him off during his meeting with the tech giants in the White House.
“I want to thank the media. They’ve been very nice lately. Although I’m still here,” he quipped on camera. Zuckerberg could be seen laughing, but Gates sat stone-faced.
Trump continued, “They made a couple of bad predictions. That was not good. I’ve never had that feeling before.”
In July, the Trump administration acknowledged that the president was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, which causes swelling in his lower legs.
Physician to the president Sean Barbabella described the condition as “benign and common” and insisted Trump “remains in excellent health,” despite widespread concern about his well-being.
