Trump jokes autocorrect made it seem like he forgot Melania’s name

Published May 6, 2026 2:45pm ET



President Donald Trump turned a White House event honoring military mothers into a rare personal moment on Wednesday, praising first lady Melania Trump as an “incredible mom” before joking about social media posts in which autocorrect changed her name to “Melody.”

Speaking during the Mother’s Day event in the East Room, Trump drew laughter from the crowd as he recalled repeatedly battling autocorrect while posting tributes to the first lady online.

“Every time I wrote ‘Melania,’ it would correct to ‘Melody,'” said the president.

President Donald Trump shakes first lady Melania Trump’s hand during an event for military mothers in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

“And I work very fast, very fast … and I’d talk about her and I’d say ‘and Melania is fantastic and Happy Mother’s Day, Melania, our great first lady, Melania’ but it would spell-correct and word-correct to Melody,” he continued. “And sometimes I wouldn’t proofread it, and I’d say hmmm and I would get just absolutely decimated.”

Trump drew more laughter as he joked that the typo led some in the press to question whether he’d forgotten his wife’s name.

“They said he didn’t know the name of his wife. He keeps calling her,” said Trump. “And I said, What the hell is wrong with this machine? I didn’t know about that little feature, but I got that corrected eventually, you know who corrected? The military.”

President Donald Trump kisses first lady Melania Trump during a Mother’s Day event for members of the military, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in the East Room of the White House, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

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Another light and touching moment came as the president praised the first lady for her dedication to their son, Barron.

“She’s done an incredible job as first lady, and she’s an incredible mom, she is,” said the president. “A little boy who’s quite tall. He’s a little boy to us, but he’s quite tall, right, and he’s great. Barron. And she takes great care of him. And thank you, great mom.”