President Donald Trump joked that his marriage with first lady Melania Trump would not last as long his parents’ marriage.
The president addressed a crowd at the White House during a daylong visit from King Charles III and Queen Camilla. He recalled his mother had a crush on King Charles, and then went on to admire his parents’ long marriage.
“They were married for 63 years. Excuse me, if you don’t mind,” President Trump said, turning to look at the first lady seated just behind him. “That’s a record we won’t be able to match, darling. I’m sorry, just not going to work out that way. We’ll do well, but we’re not going to do that well.”
The apparent joke at his age comes days after calling on Jimmy Kimmel to be fired over a joke that the comedian says was about Donald and Melania Trump’s age gap. If the president and the first lady won’t make it 63 years, how long have they been married?
Here is what to know:
How long have Melania and Donald Trump been married?
Donald and Melania Trump have been married for 21 years. They were married on Jan. 22, 2005, when then-Melania Knauss was 34 and Trump was 58.
Today, President Trump is 79 years old and Melania is 56. In order for the couple to make it to 63 years of marriage, they would have to live to be 121 and 98, respectively.
Trump was married twice before Melania. His marriage to Ivana Trump lasted about 15 years, and his marriage to Marla Maples lasted about 6 years.
What did Jimmy Kimmel say about Melania Trump?
Kimmel joked that spurred backlash from the White House was about Melania Trump in his “Alternative White House Correspondents’ Dinner” segment on April 23, two days before the real event in Washington, DC, which ended early in chaos after shots were fired outside of the dining room.
“So beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” Kimmel said.
President Trump called Kimmel’s comments a “despicable call to violence” in an April 27 Truth Social post and called on Kimmel to be fired.
“(It) obviously was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together,” Kimmel rebutted on April 27. “It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am.”
Kimmel drew a comparison between his joke and the president’s subsequent comment at the king’s appearance in his monologue on April 28.
“Wait a minute. Did he just make a joke about his death?” Kimmel asked after playing a clip about Trump’s comments. “He should be fired for that! Only Donald Trump would demand I be fired for making a joke about his old age, and then a day later, go out and make a joke about his own old age!”
USA TODAY previously reached out to the White House about Kimmel’s comment and was pointed to an X post from White House communications director Steven Cheung, which calls Kimmel “a (expletive) human” and calls on ABC to fire him.
Kimmel’s show was temporarily pulled from the air in September after his comments on Republicans’ reaction to the murder of Charlie Kirk. Trump has previously called for the firing of late-night hosts, including Kimmel. On April 28, the Federal Communications Commission issued an order saying it is investigating ABC’s parent company, Disney, “for possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules, including the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination.”
Contributing: Zac Anderson, James Powel, Brendan Morrow, Taijuan Moorman, BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAY
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at KCrowley@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X (Twitter), Threads, Bluesky and TikTok.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump jokes about his marriage not lasting as long as his parents’
Reporting by Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY NETWORK / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
