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Melania’s Inauguration Day Gift to Michelle Obama Really Was Exactly As Awkward As It Looked

It’s been a year since Donald Trump became the 45th president of the United States, and in true American fashion, his term began the way all good news items do: with a meme.

On Trump’s Inauguration Day, the newly elected president and First Lady, Melania, met former President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama on the steps of the White House for a photo op prior to the swearing-in ceremony. You’ll remember that Michelle was handed a Tiffany’s box moments before the pose, a gift from Melania.

Naturally, social media had a field day with a screen grab of Michelle’s confused side-eye.

Having left the Internet wondering what this mystery gift was, Obama finally addressed the impromptu gift exchange on her first television interview since leaving the White House on an upcoming episode of The Ellen Degeneres Show. The answer? It was a frame!

Related: WTF Was in the Mysterious Tiffany Box that Melania Trump Gave to Michelle Obama?

Though we’re relieved to finally have some closure on the topic, the content of the Tiffany’s box was less entertaining than what Michelle had to say about the exchange as a whole, telling Degeneres that Trump’s generosity nearly botched White House protocol.

“This is like a state visit, so they tell you that you’re going to do this, they’re going to stand here,” Obama told Degeneres. “Never before do you get this gift, so I’m sort of like, ‘OK, what am I supposed to do with this gift?’”

Obama even noted how strange it was that Donald left Melania to walk up to the group on her own.

Luckily, good ol’ Barry was there to save the day, taking the box from Michelle while directing the Trumps where to stand in time for the camera’s flash, reportedly saying, “We will take care of the protocol.”

And just like that, a chapter of American history comes to a close.


Brigitte graduated from Suffolk University in the heart of Boston, MA in 2016. Since then, she's been reading lots of celebrity memoir, sipping her way to the bottom of every coffee mug, and searching for the perfect fall bootie. Follow her on Twitter @BrigittteMarie and Instagram @brigittttemarie.