As Donald and Melania Trump embark on their second state visit to the UK, one of the internet’s strangest conspiracy theories has resurfaced: the claim that the First Lady is sometimes replaced by a body double.
The Trumps landed in the United Kingdom on Monday (September 16) before beginning a two-day programme of meetings with King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Princess Catherine, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
But alongside ceremonies and protests - including the arrest of four people after an image of Trump with Jeffrey Epstein was projected onto Windsor Castle - social media lit up with renewed “Fake Melania” chatter.
Some users pointed to photos and videos of the couple departing the White House in the daylight.
“She’s smiling. Must be fake Melania,” one person quipped about the 55-year-old, referring to her often reserved public appearances.
Another asked bluntly: “Is that the real Melania or the fake Melania?” while a third speculated: “If it’s the fake Melania, the coat could be hiding legs that are different than the right Melania.”
Why the ‘Fake Melania’ theory persists
The theory first emerged in 2017 after images of Melania at a press conference looked “different” to some viewers.
Since then, every smile, hairstyle, and pair of oversized sunglasses has been scrutinized for supposed evidence that she isn’t really herself.
At a recent military parade in the US, one viewer posted on X: “Ummm I don’t think that’s really Melania Trump. She seems nice and warm and older and wider… is that a body double?!”
Another declared: “A Melania Trump Body Double is a conspiracy theory I 100% believe.”
Though repeatedly debunked, including by Snopes, the theory thrives partly because of the First Lady's long stretches out of the spotlight.
Business Insider previously noted she spent just 14 of Trump’s first 100 days in Washington at the White House.
Trump and Melania push back
The president has publicly railed against the speculation.
“The Fake News photoshopped pictures of Melania, then propelled conspiracy theories that it’s actually not her by my side in Alabama and other places,” he wrote. “They are only getting more deranged with time!" per Politico.
The FLOTUS has also responded in interviews, telling Fox & Friends: “I feel I was always me the first time as well.
"I just feel that people didn’t accept me, maybe. Maybe some people, they see me as just a wife of the president, but I’m standing on my own two feet. Independent. I have my own thoughts, I have my own ‘yes’ and ‘no,’” she added.
Stephanie Grisham, Trump’s former communications chief, dismissed the claims as a distraction: “Once again, we find ourselves consumed with a ridiculous non-story when we could be talking about the work the first lady is doing on behalf of children.”
This week’s resurfacing of the theory comes as Donald Trump was honoured with a carriage procession, a Red Arrows flyover, and a lavish state banquet at Windsor Castle, where he sat between King Charles and the Princess of Wales.
Calling the visit “one of the highest honours of my life,” the two-time leader described the UK-US bond as “irreplaceable and unbreakable” and praised the Princess as “so radiant and so healthy, so beautiful," cited by Sky News.
The banquet hosted 160 guests, including Sir Keir Starmer and top American tech executives such as Apple’s Tim Cook, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella.
But outside Windsor’s walls, the conversation online kept circling back to the First Lady - whether she looked too happy, too different, or too much like someone else entirely.