President Donald Trump took a swing at a joke about his marriage to first lady Melania Trump on Tuesday — and her awkward reaction suggests it was a miss.
White House Ceremony Remarks
In remarks at a White House ceremony welcoming King Charles III and Queen Camilla to the U.S., the president remarked on his parents’ 63-year marriage before turning to his wife, who was seated between the royals.
“Excuse me, if you don’t mind. That’s a record we won’t be able to match, darling,” Trump said to the first lady, who cracked a stiff smile before turning toward the queen.
“I’m sorry. Just not going to work out that way. We’ll do well, but we’re not going to do that well, 63 years,” he continued.
Implications of the Joke
Trump’s dark joke touches on his upcoming 80th birthday and the unlikelihood that he’ll live to see his 63rd anniversary in 2068, when he’d be 121 years old and his wife would be 97.
The first couple met in 1998, a year before Trump divorced his second wife, Marla Maples. They married in January 2005 and welcomed their son, Barron Trump, the following year.
Comparison to Jimmy Kimmel's Joke
Critics swiftly compared the president’s quip to Jimmy Kimmel’s joke last week about the first lady being an “expectant widow” days before a gunman interrupted the White House Correspondents’ Association event Trump was attending.
In the wake of the shooting, Kimmel’s joke sparked right-wing outrage, and the first lady demanded that ABC fire the comedian on Monday.
Trump’s joke about his own mortality struck many on social media as similar to Kimmel’s.
“So he’s joking about Melania being an expectant widow?” wrote one X user of Trump.
“So Trump can joke about Melania becoming a widow, but MAGA melts down over a late-night comedian saying the same thing?” another person asked.
The Federal Communications Commission — headed by a Trump-friendly chair — is reportedly eyeing a review of ABC parent company Disney’s broadcast licenses following the backlash to Kimmel’s quip.
