BACKHANDED

Trump’s Weird Melania Compliment Exposed

The president tried, but failed, to praise his wife.

Seth Meyers roasted President Donald Trump for his inability to compliment his wife.

Trump, 80, and first lady Melania, 56, signed an executive order Monday creating a women’s health division within the National Institutes of Health and a White House task force to focus on the issue. Susie Wiles and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will helm the task force, even though top Republicans have admitted women shouldn’t follow RFK Jr.’s medical advice.

The president credited Melania with conceiving the idea for the women’s health division within the National Institutes of Health.

Late Night host Meyers, 52, noted Trump’s backhanded compliment before signing the order during his opening monologue Monday. Trump “praised first lady Melania Trump and said, ‘She’s a very skilled person, actually,’” Meyers said.

“Oh, I know my wife loves it when I add ‘actually’ at the end of a compliment,” the host quipped. “It’s right up there with ‘You look tired’ and ‘Calm down.’”

Meyers also called out Trump for playing golf instead of governing, playing a clip of the president saying, “Melania worked so hard” on the initiative, “You wouldn’t believe it.”

“I don’t know, I might believe it,” Meyers joked. “I’ve certainly never seen her on the golf course.”

During the signing, Trump made more awkward comments about Melania. After signing the order at a table in front of guests in the White House Rose Garden, he said, after handing her his Sharpie pen, “I don’t know if her signature means anything,” prompting some uneasy laughter.

Melania smiled and responded, “Yours is the most important,” before signing.

Although the initiative is new, the NIH has had an Office of Research on Women’s Health since 1990. Officials said the new division would collaborate with the original office rather than replace it, prompting questions of redundancy.

It’s also unclear if and how the Trump administration is funding the new division, because the order doesn’t allocate funds and omits specific funding goals.

The Trump administration’s history of supporting women’s health is dubious. In April 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services slashed funding for an earlier Women’s Health Initiative, a long-running, taxpayer-funded study of a broad range of women’s health issues started in the 1990s. Public outcry forced officials to restore the money.

The administration also eliminated or downsized multiple health programs as part of the 2025 HHS layoffs, including gutting the Maternal and Child Health Bureau.

The new executive order comes two weeks before critical midterm elections that will determine which party controls Congress. A Times/Siena Poll from September shows that just one-third of American women support Trump and the Republican Party.

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Dana Herrnstadt Editorial Intern, Obsessed

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