U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend the Freedom 250 Grand Prix IndyCar series race in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 23, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump appeared to be in a heated conversation while at the Washington D.C. "Freedom 250 IndyCar Grand Prix," and The Daily Mirror interviewed a lip reader who thinks they know what the couple was chatting about.
A video of the couple shows Mrs. Trump leaning in to say something to the president and he appears to listen closely. Mrs. Trump then waits for a response from him. She then replied to him, holding up two fingers.
Speaking to the Mirror, professional lip reader Jeremy Freeman explained that, their exchange was partially blocked in places, but he thinks that the chat began with her saying: "That’s the problem, people react."
The lip reader said that Trump replied: "We'll knock it off."
The First Lady said, in what he saw as a "snappy" tone: "Are you?"
The next section was blocking their lips, but Mrs. Trump can be seen saying at one point, "It happened two times."
Trump replied: "I know."
Mrs. Trump finished saying, "I can't take any more."
The footage went viral on X as insiders desperately tried to figure out whether the debate was about news around top Trump aide Natalie Harp.
After Mrs. Trump walked away, Harp was then seen walking over to the president briefly.
She also spoke to son Eric Trump, according to a previous report from The Mirror. In that case, lip reader Nicola Hickling said Hickling thinks that Harp said, “apparently it’s fun,” speaking about the Trump-promoted race. Eric Trump appears to have replied, “I haven’t seen this many cars.”
“Don’t worry, we will have fun,” Harp said in response, according to Hickling.
“Hopefully,” Eric Trump responded, according to Hickling. “Will your car win?”
Last week, the First Lady returned to the White House to discuss one of her initiatives involving children aging out of the foster care system.
"I heard you missed me. Here I am," Mrs. Trump said, stepping up to the podium. "Here I am! Welcome to the White House."
Behind the scenes, Mrs. Trump may have her own version of Harp, wrote Sarah Baxter, director of the Marie Colvin Center for International Reporting.
That includes "a handsome, long-haired tech dude called Marc Beckman, who goes by the grandiose title 'Exclusive Senior Advisor to First Lady Melania Trump,'" wrote Baxter.
"Beckman, it turns out, has been advising Melania ever since her eponymous $40 million Amazon docuseries," Baxter said. "Two sequels are in the works. On his LinkedIn page, Beckman describes himself as a 'strategic advisor, producer and cultural architect operating at the intersection of global policy, media and emerging technology.' He also writes about AI, crypto and robotics."
Mrs. Trump appears close to releasing another series about her life.
