'What am I supposed to do with this gift?'
Michelle Obama awkwardly accepting a present from Melania Trump was one of the most iconic moments of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, with social media instantly honing in on the moment last January. A year later, we’ve finally found out what the heck was in the infamous Tiffany & Co box and it’s a little disappointing.
Michelle was grilled on the Ellen DeGeneres Show about the gift in her first televised interview since leaving the White House last year. She explained that the awkwardness boiled down to the fact that she didn’t know what to do with the box, leading to the photos that made the exchange a popular meme.
She said to Ellen, ‘There is all this protocol, this is like a state visit where they tell you, ‘You’re going to do this, you’re going to stand here.’ And never before do you get this gift. So I’m standing there like, ‘Okay, what am I supposed to do with this gift?’ And everyone cleared out and no one would take the box. And then I’m thinking, ‘Do we take the picture with it?’’
Luckily, Barack Obama stepped in. She said, ‘My husband saved the day. See he grabbed the box and took it back inside. But everyone cleared out, no staff, no one. I was like, ‘What do you do with the box?’’
As for what was actually inside the gift? She revealed, ‘It was a lovely frame.’
Here’s hoping the Obamas have the frame hung up somewhere in their house, immortalising a photo of the exchange.
