it was the hand swat we could not stop
talking about as cnn reported in 2017
then first lady melania trump swatted
her husband's hand away when president
donald trump attempted to hold hers when
they arrived at ben gurion international
airport to meet israeli prime minister
benjamin netanyahu and his wife twitter
was still buzzing about the awkward
incident years later with one person
tweeting in january of 2021 i'm gonna
miss watching melania swat back donald's
hand in every public moment of course
given the very public seeming rebuke
rumors would swirl that the hand swap
was just another sign that the trump's
marriage was in trouble other sources
speculated the hand swat signaled a far
less telling meaning with stephanie
winston wolkoff a friend of melania's
telling the washington post in 2018 she
is a dignified private person and she'll
deal with her personal life in private
and it's no one's business they are not
that couple that holds hands just
because she is old world european and
it's not who she is and i have much more
important things to think about and to
do but now years later and with a new
president in office former chief of
staff for melania trump stephanie
grisham has written a book i'll take
your questions now what i saw at the
trump white house which offers a new
explanation for the viral swot she knows
obtained an excerpt and reported that in
grisham's widely buzzed about book she
recounts the hand swat incident in
israel noting president trump reached
out and slightly behind him with his
left hand apparently to try to take mrs
trump's right hand without breaking her
stride and with a flick of her wrist she
appeared to swat his hand away and kept
walking so why did the former model not
want to hold the commander in chief's
hand during this very public moment as
grisham writes for those who care to
know mrs trump slapped her husband's
hand away that day because she thought
it was against protocol to hold hands at
such a formal ceremony as yahoo recounts
grisham calls melania a quote rule
follower she also claims that former
president trump often tried to hold her
hand or messed with her hands on purpose
in front of the camera to irritate her
indeed some iteration of the 2017 hand
swap was something we witnessed several
times throughout trump's presidency with
another yahoo story recounting six
separate times the former president's
third wife seemingly rejected his
advances via a handhold or a hug or
placing his arm around her of course all
of these instances were caught on camera
and widely dissected on social media by
both supporters and those who were not
fans of the trumps it's important to
note there were times the trumps held
hands in october of 2020 express
reported on the couple holding hands at
a campaign event in florida as well as
their public displays of affection that
day including an embrace and a kiss
meanwhile in february of 2020 fabiosa
also published a story about a tender
moment between the trumps who have been
married since 2005. why are these
moments in which melania and donald
kissed or hugged or showed one another
affection newsworthy it seems the trumps
are not a married couple who are big on
pda with the international business time
suggesting this changed once they moved
into 1600 pennsylvania avenue
indeed pre-politics the outlet notes
donald and melania were more of a
lovey-dovey duo it's also noteworthy
that not every couple is big on public
displays of affection but that fact
never stopped detractors from focusing
on the hand swats or interpreting them
to mean the trumps were on the verge of
a divorce most recently however politico
reported that an insider confirmed the
couple would put on a united front if
the new york native runs for a second
term in 2024 with the source saying that
melania will quote be right there by her
husband's side whether she'll swat his
hand away again remains to be seen
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