President Donald Trump gave a memorable speech at the first-ever Board of Peace meeting, going off-script with personal remarks about Melania and a past escalator incident that caught everyone off guard. The speech was delivered to dozens of international officials in the US Capitol.
During his address, Trump acknowledged Santiago Peña Palacios, the president of Paraguay, saying, “[He’s a] young, handsome guy. It’s always nice to be young and handsome. Doesn’t mean we have to like you.” He then added, “I don’t like young, handsome men. Women, I like. Men, I don’t have any interest.”
According to Unilad, Trump then brought up a viral moment from last September at the United Nations headquarters in New York, where an escalator carrying him and Melania suddenly stopped. At the time, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called for an immediate investigation, but Trump now seems to look back on it with humor.
Trump’s off-the-cuff remarks about Melania revealed a more personal and unguarded side of the president
He recalled, “First I had an escalator that stopped. You know that it’s going up. Boom. It’s lucky that my movie star first lady in front of me because I put my hand on a certain part of her body and I was able to stop my fall.” He added that Melania was “right in the proper location for me.” The UN had previously said the escalator stopped due to a safety mechanism, possibly triggered by a videographer behind the couple.
Trump has repeatedly called Melania a “movie star,” often promoting her documentary film, Melania, which he described as her “number one” movie and a “tremendous hit.” The film received just 11 percent from critics on Rotten Tomatoes but earned a 98 percent audience score on the same platform.
Melania has spoken about the film, saying, “I’m very proud of the film so people may like it, may don’t like it, and that’s their choice. We achieved what we want to achieve. For myself, it’s already successful. I’m very proud of what we did.”
On Valentine’s Day, a reporter on Air Force One asked Trump about his plans with Melania. His presidency has been marked by several controversies, including reports that Trump’s DOJ admitted to violating over 50 court orders since December 2025. He initially seemed to mishear the Valentine’s Day question, responding, “She’s on the plane, we have a movie star on the plane,” again referring to her film.
When the reporter followed up and asked, “Did you do anything for Valentine’s with her? Did you give her flowers?”, Trump paused and responded with a laugh, “Better not tell you that. Goodbye, everybody.” He then called it “the toughest question.”
Trump did take the moment to praise Melania’s work with children affected by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, saying, “I think you’re going to see in the end that she’s going to go down as one of the truly great first ladies.” Trump has also made headlines recently for making controversial remarks about Jesse Jackson, claiming Jackson could not stand Barack Obama. The couple was later seen at a dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Valentine’s Day, where Trump was filmed dancing alone to “God Bless the U.S.A.”
Published: Feb 20, 2026 04:06 pm