No, Donald Trump did not call his wife ‘Mercedes’ instead of Melania

News headlines and social media posts claim former President Donald Trump forgot his wife’s name. 

"Experts warn Donald Trump may be suffering from dementia after calling wife Melania ‘Mercedes,’" one Feb. 26 Facebook post said. 

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But Trump didn’t mistakenly call his wife the wrong name. The claims take Trump’s comments during his Feb. 24 speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference out of context. 

During the speech, at around the 54-minute mark,Trump praised former first lady Melania Trump. 

"She was a great first lady, people love her," Trump said. 

The crowd erupted in cheers and gave the former president a standing ovation.

"Oh look at that, wow," Trump responded, looking to his left at the audience. "Mercedes, that's pretty good."

Trump was talking to Mercedes Schlapp, his former White House strategic communications director and wife of CPAC chair Matt Schlapp. We found no information in media reports about whether Melania Trump attended CPAC. 

Late night talk show host Seth Meyers also poked fun at Trump, showing the clip from Trump’s speech before welcoming President Joe Biden on his show. 

"I'm sorry, Mercedes? You had a nuclear meltdown when Biden messed up the president of Egypt and you can't remember your wife's name?" Meyers said. "Guys, I hate to say it, his mind is slipping."

Later in the show, Biden referenced Trump’s comment when Meyers asked him about voters’ concerns over his age. 

"You’ve got to take a look at the other guy," Biden said. "He’s about as old as I am but he can’t remember his wife’s name."

Trump referenced Mercedes Schlapp three times during his CPAC speech, and each time he looked at the audience to his left, where Mercedes and Matt were sitting in the front row. 

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At the beginning of his speech, Trump spent eight minutes individually recognizing people in the room.

"I want to thank Matt and Mercedes Schlapp," Trump said around the 1:10 mark."Two great people along with the entire staff of the American conservative union."

It was an incredible privilege to welcome President Trump to his 14th @CPAC appearance! 🇺🇸

We’re in this fight against globalism together! #WhereGlobalismGoesToDie pic.twitter.com/QQGnjGPKcS

— Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) February 25, 2024

Trump looked to his left when he mentioned Mercedes during the crowd’s standing ovation for Melania, and then again at the end of the speech. 

"So now, I'm going to the place I'm supposed to be. I’m going to South Carolina. I’m supposed to be there," Trump said. "And if I do poorly I'm going to blame Mercedes. Forget about that. I'm gonna blame Mercedes. Because I am supposed to be there and I'm not there."

Trump has previously made gaffes and mistakenly used the wrong names for people when giving speeches. 

During an October 2022 deposition in the case that found Trump liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll, Trump mistook a picture of Carroll for his ex-wife Marla Maples. 

"That’s Marla," Trump said, pointing to a picture of Carroll. "That’s my wife."

In January, Trump was trying to refer to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., but called her Nikki Haley, his Republican presidential primary opponent.

Trump has also mistakenly said he defeated President Barack Obama in an election and that Biden would lead the U.S. into World War II. 

Trump’s and Biden’s mental aptitudes have been a key talking point during the 2024 presidential campaign, because, if elected, Trump and Biden would be the oldest presidents in U.S. history, breaking records they each set in 2016 and 2020, respectively.

A Facebook post claimed Donald Trump called his wife "Mercedes" instead of Melania.

After Trump mentioned Melania during his CPAC speech, the crowd erupted in applause and gave him a standing ovation. He looked to his left at the audience, where Mercedes Schlapp was sitting in the front row, and said,"Oh look at that, wow. Mercedes, that's pretty good."

He referred to Mercedes Schlapp two other times during his speech, and looked in the same direction each time.

We rate this claim False.