Turns out that Ellen DeGeneres solves mysteries part time. The talk show host got forever first lady Michelle Obama to dish on the mysterious gift that Melania Trump brought with her during the administration switch on Inauguration Day.
In her first TV interview since leaving the White House, Obama showed up as radiant and charismatic as ever, revealing what was inside the blue Tiffany & Co. box Trump handed to her.
“It was a lovely frame,” Obama said before DeGeneres played back the viral footage.
Donald Trump was roundly criticized during the inauguration for not waiting for his wife, or helping her out of the car, or even taking her arm before he walked up the White House steps and greeted the Obamas. Melania Trump instead was left to walk up the stairs alone, a few steps behind her husband, with the box in her hands, and prompting an awkward turnabout for a few seconds.
“Well, there’s all this protocol. I mean, this is like a state visit, so they tell you that you’re going to do this, they’re going to stand here, and never before do you get this gift, so I’m sort of like, OK,” Obama recounted candidly as the audience laughed. “What am I supposed to do with this gift?”
In footage and in GIF form, Obama’s spin to find something to do with the unexpected present lives on. However, Barack Obama quickly took matters into his own hands, resolving the situation seamlessly.
“And everyone cleared out and no one would come and take the box. And I’m thinking, do we take the picture [with it]?” Michelle Obama added. “And then my husband saved the day—see, he grabbed the box and took it back inside.”