No, a fake Melania Trump was not filmed with Donald Trump

Context

In the lead-up to the U.S. election results, President-elect Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, were filmed speaking to reporters and campaign staffers in Palm Beach, Florida, after Trump voted on November 5. 

During her husband's address, Melania Trump wore dark sunglasses indoors, leading some social media users to speculate that the woman beside Trump was not the real Melania. 

"Yo, am I crazy, or is that a fake Melania standing next to him?" one X (formerly Twitter) user speculated above a video of Trump's address (archived here). 

In another post (archived here), one X user commented, "That's not Melania. This is insane," above a post noting Melania had been wearing glasses indoors all day. 

Another speculated in a post (archived here) that the woman pictured next to Trump was actually his deputy director of communications, Margo Martin. The user compared photos of Martin wearing sunglasses next to an image of Melania from polling day and captioned them, "Left: Trump and his deputy communications chief Margo Martin in May, Right: Trump and 'Melania' smiling and wearing sunglasses indoors today, Fake Melania strikes again?"

However, other video footage taken at the station that day shows Melania Trump with her glasses off — and it was definitely the real Melania. 

What we found

Melania Trump went on to address campaign staffers at the Trump Campaign headquarters. 

In a video posted to X by Martin (archived here), Melania is seen addressing the room with her sunglasses off. The carpet in one of the videos used to claim she is not the real Melania matches the carpet taken in other footage of the Trumps at the campaign headquarters, indicating that the videos were taken in the same place. 

A screenshot taken from a video which was used as evidence on social media that the Melania seen next to Trump was not the real Melania Trump. Right, a screenshot taken from a video posted by Martin. The carpets and Trump's outfit match, indicating the videos were taken in the same place at the same address. (Source: X)

Media outlet Forbes posted a clearer version of Melania's address. In it, she is not wearing sunglasses, and the camera zooms into her face, which is clearly visible. Other photos of Melania indicate that the woman filmed next to Trump is the same person. 

On the left is Melania at the Trumps’ visit to the campaign headquarters on November 5, 2024. On the right is Melania standing next to Trump at an address on February 8, 2016. (Source: YouTube/Wikimedia Commons)

Other photos of Melania Trump from the same event in which her face is visible are available on Getty Images. A comparison between photos of Melania and photos of Margo Martin taken from a similar angle shows differences in the eyes, mouths, and chins. Martin also looks visibly younger than Melania. 

Logically Facts has contacted Forbes and Getty Images for comment. 

The verdict

X users speculated that the woman filmed next to Trump was not the real Melania Trump after she was filmed wearing sunglasses indoors throughout the day. However, other video footage of her address shows her without her glasses, and it is clearly Melania Trump. We have therefore rated this claim false. 

Follow Logically Facts' coverage and fact-checking of the U.S. Election 2024 here.