History was made as Donald Trump took the oath of office once again, but some conspiracy theorists were convinced his wife, Melania Trump, couldn’t be bothered to show up.
As her reality-TV-star-turned-president husband was sworn in for the second time, Melania’s choice of a wide-brimmed hat reignited long-standing rumors about the first lady’s use of a body double for public appearances.
Highlights
- Melania's wide-brimmed hat on Inauguration Day reignited body double rumors.
- Social media compared her appearance to a "mobster" and "anime villain."
- “This hat is not going to quell the melania body double rumors,” said one social media comment.
- Earlier this month, Melania said: “I have my own thoughts ... I don’t always agree with what my husband is saying or doing."
“Melania is a body double today,” a social media user declared on X.
Melania Trump's appearance at her husband's swearing-in ceremony sparked a firestorm of comments
Image credits: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
The first lady, 54, appeared by Trump’s side on Inauguration Day, dressed in a silk wool Adam Lippes coat, skirt, and an ivory blouse. Her enormous hat, designed by Eric Javits, added a hint of drama.
The internet called her “the Hamburglar,” a “funeral director,” an “anime villain,” and even compared her to Michael Jackson.
Image credits: AustinRSmith25
While her look gave off “mobster” vibes, it also resurrected speculation about her using a body double while out in public.
“Who was that person? Trans-Melania??? Body double, Melania??? Beetlejuice Melania??? Creepy as hell....” one said while another wrote, “I think it's fake Melania at the inauguration. The hat completely obscures her face, and all of the camera angles have her behind something or someone. Very strange.”
Some online sleuths felt the hat strategically obscured her face and were convinced it wasn’t the real Melania standing next to Trump
Image credits: Scott Olson / Getty Images
“This hat is not going to quell the melania body double rumors, i can tell ya that much....” said a third comment.
“Honestly, this is exactly what I would wear if there were rampant rumors that I was being replaced by a body double at important events,” said a fourth.
“That Bolero hat Melania is wearing won’t do much to dispel the rumours that she has a body double,” one wrote.
One thought Melania’s body double was “lowkey slaying” at the 2025 inauguration.
“Melania’s body double is giving rupaul here,” joked another.
The internet compared her to characters like the “the Hamburglar” and an “anime villain”
Image credits: AdrianRavenwood
Earlier this month, Melania spoke about returning to the White House with her husband—the 47th (and previously 45th) US president.
She told Fox News that she felt people didn’t “accept” her the first time Trump took his seat at the Oval Office in 2017.
“I feel I was always me the first time as well, I just feel that people didn’t accept me, maybe. They didn’t understand me the way maybe they do now. I didn’t have much support,” she said
Image credits: xXmidsXx
“Maybe some people, they see me as just the wife of the president,” she said during the interview.
“But I’m standing on my own two feet, independent,” she added. “I have my own thoughts, I have my own yes and no. I don’t always agree with what my husband is saying or doing, and that’s OK.”
When it comes to Trump taking advice from her, she said: “Sometimes he listens, sometimes he doesn’t. And that’s okay.”
“This hat is not going to quell the melania body double rumors,” said one social media comment
Image credits: Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images
Over the years, Melania has sparked body double rumors on multiple occasions. Suspicions about a “Fake Melania” arose when the former model cast her vote in Palm Beach, Florida, during the US presidential election last November.
Many erroneously claimed that the mother-on-one, dressed in a polka dot dress and large sunglasses even while indoors, was “absolutely, categorically not Melania.”
“This imposter's been wearing sunglasses indoors all day,” another said at the time.
“I have my own thoughts, I have my own yes and no. I don’t always agree with what my husband is saying or doing,” she said earlier this month
Image credits: Bloomberg / Getty Images
Her days of being a FLOTUS during Trump’s first presidential term also sparked “Fake Melania” claims on the internet on multiple occasions.
When she boarded Marine One with him en route to Nashville in October 2020, several netizens were convinced the smiling first lady was not Melania.
“The only thing I’ll miss from this administration is them swapping in new Melanias and just pretending we won’t notice like a 4-year-old with a guppy,” film director Zack Bornstein said in a tweet at the time.
Image credits: PlatosGooncave
A 2017 Snopes report claimed that a Facebook user named Andrea Wagner Barton sparked the bizarre body double rumors by posting what he claimed as photographic “evidence.”
What was described as “evidence” appeared to be unstrustworthy as the alleged “fake” Melania appeared blurry and possibly distorted in the photo shared by Barton when compared to other pictures shared by news outlets.
Netizens claimed to have “evidence” of a body double, but the claims were not substantiated or proven
Image credits: Andrea Andi Wagner
Ahead of his swearing-in ceremony on January 20, 2025, Trump was all-praises while speaking about his wife of nearly 20 years during a December interview with TIME.
“Oh yes,” he responded when asked if the first lady would be joining him at the White House for his second term.
“She was, she was very, she actually became very active towards the end, as you saw with interviews,” he went on to say. “And she does—she does them well. People really watch.”
“She's very beloved by the people, Melania. And they like the fact that she's not out there in your face all the time for many reasons,” he added. “Many political people have that, you know. But she's, she's really, they really like her. They really love her.”
“Actually, in many ways, when I make speeches, we love our first lady. They have signs, we love our first lady. No, she'll be–she'll be active, when she needs to be, when she needs to be.”
Trump recently gushed about his wife of nearly 20 years and said, “She's very beloved by the people”
Melania also indicated that she plans to spend a significant portion of her time in Washington.
“I will be in the White House. And you know when I need to be in New York, I will be in New York,” she said during her Fox News interview. “When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach. But my first priority is, you know, to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife. And once we are in on January 20, you serve the country.”
Having spent four years at the White House already, she said she is more prepared this time and already had her bags packed.
"I know the rooms where we will be living. I know the process. The first time was challenging. We didn't have much of the information. The information was upheld for us from the previous administration," she said in the January 13 interview.
“But this time, I have everything,” she continued. “I have plans I could move in. I already packed, I already selected the, you know, the furniture that needs to go in. So, it's very different.”
“Melania is a body double today,” a social media user declared after the 2025 inauguration
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