Awkward moment as Donald Trump fails to kiss Melania moments before inauguration oath

Donald Trump awkwardly failed to kiss his wife Melania on the cheek moments before he was sworn in as president for the second time.

The incoming president, 78, fell inches short of his wife’s face – with the pair air kissing instead.

Mrs Trump, 54, wore a wide-brimmed hat for the inauguration ceremony in Washington DC on Monday – which prevented her husband from reaching her cheek – and blocked her face from view.

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Mr and Mrs Trump, who married in 2005, suffered an equally awkward moment at his last inauguration in January 2017.

The then-president-elect appeared to forget about his spouse as he hurried up the White House steps to greet his predecessor President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, with Mrs Trump subsequently left to walk alone.

Later on that day, Mrs Trump was captured scowling at her husband – momentarily changing to a smile when he turned around – only to continue grimacing once his head was turned.

The couple’s relationship came under further scrutiny in May that year during a visit to Tel-Aviv, Israel, when Mrs Trump appeared to push the president’s hand away after he tried to hold it at a red carpet event.

The returning first lady was notably absent from her husband’s second presidential campaign last year – save from its launch at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee – prompting further speculation about the state of her marriage.

She also made headlines in October with the release of her memoir, in which she declared her support for abortion rights – contradicting her husband’s view.

But after Mr Trump’s attempted assassination in Pennsylvania in July, his wife’s statement described his attacker as a “monster” and urged Americans to “ascend above the hate”.

The couple met in 1998 – when she was 28 and Mr Trump’s marriage to his second wife Maria Marples had not long broken down. A year after their wedding, Mrs Trump gave birth to their son Barron in 2006.

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