Colbert praises Melania's 'defensive perimeter' FLOTUS appeared to reject POTUS as he tried to hold her hand on Tuesday.

Stephen Colbert mocked President Donald Trump on Tuesday after his wife appeared to reject his attempts to show affection.

The awkward exchanges happened during a photo-op on the South Lawn Tuesday afternoon as the president and first lady, Melania Trump, welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, according to social media footage.

Cameras recorded the president as he worked to grab Melania's hand, which she appeared to move away from his. Trump even wiggled his pinky finger toward her at one point, but she still refused to clasp hands with him.

"Trump tried to hold Melania's hand. And -- nope! She is not having it, man," Colbert said during his opening monologue on "The Late Show." "He's, like, trying to arouse a dead trout. You can't blame her, though. She watches '60 minutes.' She knows where that hand has been. Allegedly.

"Trump is like, 'Come on, Melania, I want to hold your hand!' It reminds me of that Beatles song."

Colbert, who played a clip of the cringeworthy exchange, also showed his audience video that purportedly showed the first lady reject a kiss from her husband during the well-publicized state visit.

"Trump goes in for the kiss and -- oh, saved by the hat!" Colbert said, referring to the first lady's broad-brimmed hat. "That is more than a hat. That is a defensive perimeter. Their deal is, either she wears the hat, or Trump has to wear a cone."

The Macrons' visit marked the Trump administration's first state dinner after the president closed out his first year in office without receiving a foreign leader on a state visit, the first U.S. president in nearly 100 years to fail to do so, according to the Associated Press.