French President Emmanuel Macron and first lady Brigitte Macron arrived Monday for President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump's first state visit.

Since their arrival, the heads of state have met to discuss Iran, trade, and other future policy plans. They've also planted a tree, witnessed a major Melania fashion moment, and reveled in their bromance.

We'll keep updating this slideshow as the tour continues, but here are the best photos from their trip so far:

SEE ALSO: Macron and Trump's bromance is big, but experts warn it might not be enough to get things done

SEE ALSO: The most surprising formal protocol presidents and first ladies have to follow during official state visits

AND THEN: Melania Trump and Brigitte Macron keep dressing alike — and it's sending a strong style signal

The Macrons arrived on Monday.

Macron may be the world leader Trump is closest to. Their bromance, as many have called it, has been on full display throughout the visit.

Source: Business Insider

Trump and Macron planted Macron's gift, a sapling, on the White House's South Lawn. The oak tree comes from a forest in France where US Marines fought a famous World War I battle.

Source: Reuters

FORT BLISS, Texas — I wanted to ask the soldiers about their stories.

I wanted to ask them why they joined the service, if and where they had been deployed, what their experiences were like overseas, what it was like coming home, and more. 

But it was difficult.

I only had a few chances to speak to individual soldiers in-depth as I toured a number of different weapons systems during my trip to Fort Bliss.

The conversations were sometimes difficult. "I feel like a d--k for asking those questions," I told one of the public affairs officers after interviewing one officer who became emotional while describing an incident in Afghanistan. "But I think it's important for people to know these things."

"Yes, it is," the PAO said.

SEE ALSO: Soldiers don't believe this rare antelope-like animal is roaming around a Texas army base — but we saw one up-close

The first chance I got to speak to soldiers in-depth was when I met a couple of Abrams tank crews.

Name and rank: Sergeant T. Wilder.

Wilder, 27, of Athens, Tennessee, is an Abrams tank commander who said he's been in the service for eight years. 

"I joined right out of high school, like any typical high school kid does to get out of their hometown, pay for college, make something of themselves," Wilder told me. "I got about 12 more years, and I can retire."

Wilder said he deployed to Iraq in 2011 and 2012. 

"I was part of the initial drawdown," he said. "I was everywhere from Kalsu all the way down to Echo and K-Crossing."

"It was fun," he said. "I deployed in an infantry platoon so I was out doing route clearance patrols, patrols, convoy overwatch, and stuff like that."

Wilder said clearing IEDs was "slow, long, about 16 hours at about 20 mph," and that he saw all different kinds. "We saw several that were made out off 155 rounds, 105 rounds, saw one out of a propane tank, bunch of stuff stuck in water bottles and coke cans and stuff."

He said he took "a little bit [of contact], but nothing major."

When I asked him if he'd share any particular stories, he understandably shook his head no.

Name and rank: Specialist Christian Pena.

Pena, 22, told me he has been in the Army for two years.

"I'm originally from Mexico, but I moved to Arizona when I was 10," he said.

"I joined the Army 'cause this country has given me so many opportunities that I'm so grateful for — and it's my way of repaying it," he said.

He said he hasn't deployed yet, but that "it's definitely something I look forward to."

"Man of few words," the PAO said jokingly.

• Melania Trump appeared to avoid holding the president's hand during a recent photo op with the French president and his wife.
• This isn't the first time they've had an awkward handholding interaction in public.
• Experts say public handholding can be a sign that you're a close couple — though some political couples avoid any kind of PDA.

Donald and Melania's hands are once again drawing eyes all over the world, after yet another botched attempt at a public display of affection.

During a photo op Tuesday on the South Lawn, with French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte, cameras recorded the president attempting to hold his wife's hand. (You can watch the video on C-SPAN, and Twitter user BetsyBits tweeted a clip from MSNBC.)

He even wiggled his pinky finger toward her as she moved her hand away and appeared to inhale deeply. Finally, Melania seemed to relent and the couple clasped hands.

The Trumps have danced this dance before. In March, ABC News captured footage of Donald Trump running up the stairs to board Air Force One  — leaving behind his wife in high heels and a skirt.

When they disembarked, ABC footage shows Trump repeatedly trying to grab Melania's hand while she eludes his grasp. It's unclear whether Melania's behavior was a deliberate snub or whether she was simply trying to keep her outfit together.

NBC footage from February 2018 shows a similarly awkward interaction — Melania's hand was underneath her coat, which was draped over her shoulders.

Not too long before, it was reported that Trump allegedly had an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels and allegedly paid her to stay quiet about it.

And in May 2017, Israeli newspaper Haaretz showed Melania swatting away the president's hand during their visit to Tel Aviv.

The president's attempts to show the world he loves his wife have often been the subject of ridicule. In September 2017, Jimmy Kimmel poked fun at Trump giving his wife a firm handshake at a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Air Force. Kimmel called it "the most uncomfortable display of affection between any husband and wife this year."

Handholding can be a 'public demonstration about coupledom'

As for the significance of handholding, Dalton Conley, a professor of sociology at Princeton University, told The New York Times in 2006: "It's less about sex than about a public demonstration about coupledom."

The Times article cited a study published in the journal Psychological Science, which found that when happily married women held their spouses' hand while they received mild electric shocks, the parts of their brain associated with pain were less active than when they weren't holding their spouse's hand.

Interestingly, Prince William and Kate Middleton rarely hold hands in public. As INSIDER's Kristin Salaky reported, the couple is likely following Queen Elizabeth's lead, and the queen generally doesn't hold hands with her husband in public.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, on the other hand, have been seen cuddling and holding hands.

Ultimately, we can't say for sure what's causing Melania to appear to avoid holding her husband's hand. It could be that they have two different approaches to how much PDA is acceptable.

SEE ALSO: Melania Trump says she's a 'full-time mom' who refuses to hire a nanny — and it reveals a growing trend with the rich and powerful

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here’s why people on Twitter think Melania Trump was replaced by a body double — and why they’re wrong

At the most powerful address in the country, receiving special visitors is not just part of the job, but a long-held diplomatic tradition.

State visits are the highest-ranking form of diplomatic visits — only heads of state qualify for the lavish public ceremony.

Every president since Calvin Coolidge has held at least one state dinner a year, except President Donald Trump, who waited until his second year to invite French President Emmanuel Macron.

Though each state visit varies to best accommodate the president and first lady's wishes, much of the walking, standing, and shaking hands is required as distinct ceremonial steps are planned months in advance.

The Office of the Chief of Protocol assists White House staff in making sure the event goes off without diplomatic faux pas or embarrassment.

Take a look at some of the carefully coordinated pomp and circumstance, step by step:

SEE ALSO: In a major departure from tradition, Trump will not invite Democrats or the media to his first state dinner

DON'T MISS: Inside the presidential guest house — the 'world's most exclusive hotel' that's bigger than the White House

AND THEN: Meet French first lady Brigitte Macron: President Emmanuel Macron's former schoolteacher turned wife who's visiting the Trumps with him

The first visit foreign head of state to visit the White House was King David Kalakua of the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii), who former President Ulysses S. Grant hosted in 1874.

The leaders and their 36 guests enjoyed 29 courses, an impressive precursor to the event that would become a widely publicized expected duty of a president.

A state visit includes: a full-honors arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House with a 21-gun salute, a state luncheon at the US State Department, and a White House state dinner.

Only chiefs of state are invited to state visits, meaning the reigning monarch, ruler, or president of a country.

To kick off a state visit, the president and first lady receive the guest of honor at the South Lawn to demonstrate their role as hosts to their visitor.

Visiting leaders usually greet the president in their native language as they join the American leader outside the White House.

They are accompanied by military footmen before reaching a welcoming committee, then the leaders take the stage together.

Earlier this year, I decided it was finally time to upgrade my mattress.

But I didn't just want a bigger mattress; I wanted a better mattress.

I'd heard many great things about Casper, which famously grew from a single person working on a single product to a team of over 30 people working out of an R&D lab in San Francisco. And after learning about Casper's first new mattress since 2014 — the high-tech Wave mattress, which starts at $1,095 — I knew I had to give it a try.

Casper was kind enough to send me a queen-sized review unit of the Casper Wave to try for myself, which retails for $1,995. In my experience so far, I've found it to be one of the best mattresses I've ever slept on, and well worth the investment if you care at all about getting good sleep at night.

Here's what it's like to use the $2,o00 Casper Wave:

SEE ALSO: Here's what's really going on in your brain when you experience 'FOMO' — the fear of missing out

Casper calls the Wave its "most innovative mattress." At $1,100 just to start, it's also the company's most expensive.

Whereas most mattresses out there are designed for the whole body — just uniform layers of material from head to toe — the new Casper Wave mattress considers every part of the body.

Compared to the traditional Casper mattress, which starts at $595, the $1,095-to-start Casper Wave is thicker, and features more layers in specific areas to target the important parts of the body, like the spine, shoulders, and hips.

This graphic from Casper breaks down the main differences between the Wave and the other two mattress types.

Compared to the traditional Casper's "Zoned Support," which is firmer under your hips but softer under your shoulders, the Casper Wave's "Hyper-Targeted Support" offers precise support for 36 different points all over your body to relieve pressure and help you sleep more soundly.

In building the Wave mattress, Casper's research and development team explored the details of different body types and how a mattress could provide just the right support where you need it.

"Your shoulders and your hips are the heaviest parts of your body, and if those parts aren't supported properly, you start to kink your spine," says Casper's design director Jesse Mayan.

• In February, Snapchat released a controversial app redesign that triggered backlash from users — including celebrity users like Kylie Jenner and Chrissy Teigen.  
• The main complaint: The redesign separated celebrity Snapchat stories from those that came from your friends. 
• Today, Snapchat confirmed that they are testing a new design that brings friends' "Stories" back to the "Discover" page.
• It's still unclear whether this test will be deployed to every user.

After months of insisting that the controversial Snapchat redesign was here to stay, it looks like the ephemeral messaging app is considering a change of course.

Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, confirmed with Business Insider on Tuesday that it's begun testing a new design for the app that would walk back some of the biggest changes since the original redesign dropped in February.

To be specific, this design would reunite on the same page your friends' Snapchat Stories with those that come from celebrities. Check out the screenshot provided by Snap:

The test is only with a small number of users now, with no word on when, or if, it will come to all users. Details of this Snapchat design test were originally reported by Recode.

The separation of the two, across different pages of the app, was a major problem that users had with the redesign, and even frustrated celebrity power users like Kylie Jenner and Chrissy Teigen. Many users said that they valued that Snapchat made them feel as if they were friends with celebrities. 

Although this design does feel like a return to the app's popular original design, there is still one major difference. As you can see from the screenshot, while celebrity and user content will be united on the Discover page, they're still separated out in two different horizontal sliders. 

This adjustment feels like a natural compromise between the two very different previous designs. To that end, it allows Snap to continue its recent philosophy of clearly and actively distinguishing between content that comes from average users, and content that comes from celebrities and publishers.

“We are always listening to our community and will continue to test updates that we hope will give Snapchatters the best possible experience on our platform," said Snap spokesperson, in an email with Business Insider.

This reflects a dramatic change in tone since just a couple months ago, when roughly 1.2 million signed an online petition pleading with Snapchat developers to undo the update. Team Snapchat gave no indication that the petition moved them, and CEO Evan Spiegel said publicly that the uproar only gave him more confidence.

"Even the complaints we're seeing reinforce the philosophy. The frustrations we're seeing really validate those changes," said Spiegel, just weeks after the redesign rolled out. Now, it seems, he's more willing to meet users in the middle. 

SEE ALSO: How to record in Snapchat without keeping your finger on the screen

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Snapchat's VP of Content talks about the app's biggest redesign yet

• There's a lot to know when it comes to buying, ordering, and drinking gin.
• Business Insider visited Bombay Sapphire's Laverstoke Mill distillery to get some answers.
• We spoke to Senior Brand Ambassador Sam Carter, who has 22 years of experience in the drinks industry.
• Here are all the mistakes people make when it comes to gin — and what to do instead.

Whether you've been a fan for years or have only recently picked up on the craze, there's no denying that gin has taken the drinks world by storm.

However, from knowing what to buy to ordering the right thing at the bar, there's a lot to know about the juniper-based spirit.

To get some answers, Business Insider visited Bombay Sapphire's Senior Ambassador Sam Carter at the brand's Laverstoke Mill distillery just outside of London, where all of the Bombay Sapphire in the world is made.

With 22 years of experience in the drinks industry, Carter has been a wine sommelier, a restaurant manager, and a bar manager in locations all over the world. But since 2009 he has been ambassador for Bombay Sapphire.

Working out of the distillery's Empire Room, he teaches bartenders, distributors, and press everything they need to know about gin, and trains other ambassadors around the world.

"My job is really to drink gin and talk about gin," he told Business Insider.

With all of that experience, he also knows what not to do when it comes to the spirit.

Here are the mistakes people make when buying, ordering, and drinking gin, according to Carter.

1. Drinking from the wrong glass — or using a straw

To make the most of a gin and tonic, you should be serving your drink in a balloon glass, according to Carter — and you shouldn't use a straw.

"In the UK, they're not the easiest thing to store in bars — under the shelves, they're quite big — so you can also use a burgundy red wine glass," he added.

Both glasses work because they channel the aroma towards the nose.

"90 to 95% of taste comes from what we smell," Carter said. "So much flavour comes from the aroma. That's why these glasses work so well — your nose is right in there."

He added that the company has banned straws from its drinks — mostly because of sustainability, but also because when you use a straw, your nose is so far away from the top of the glass you can't smell it.

2. Adding lemon or lime slices to a G&T

When you go to a bar and ask for a gin and tonic, they'll usually put a slice of lemon or lime in your drink — but more often than not, they've been sat around in water for some time, according to Carter.

"They're left for like a day and have gone brown on the edges and it just adds a real fusty, mustiness to it," he said. "What is that even adding?

"Just because we did it 10, 20, 30 years ago and our parents did it, doesn't mean we have to do it."

He said Bombay don't use lime or lemon in their gin. Instead, the drinks come with a fresh mint sprig and a ginger slice. "These two flavours pull on two of the botanicals in the gin," he said.

Last season, the company even used watercress in their gin and tonic.

"It's all about using local — it's what chefs have been doing for years and years, [so] there's no reason why we can't do it in the drinks industry."

3. Assuming London Dry Gin comes from London

"A big misconception is people think London Dry Gin is made in London — why would you not think that?" Carter said.

However, he explained that it's more of a style of gin — and the vast majority of London Dry Gins are made outside of London.

"A lot of it is on the label," he said. "It doesn't legally have to be made in London, it can literally be made anywhere in the world.

"The key point of difference is you're not allowed to add artificial flavourings or essences before, during, or after distillation.

"Distillation has to be clear, colourless... [it has to] start with the highest quality alcohol at 96% ABV and above, you're only allowed 5mg of methanol per hectalitre, and you're only allowed to add up to 0.1g of sugar per litre of alcohol (although you don't have to)."

4. Avoiding a gin just because it's cheap

"I'd never say there's anything wrong with [supermarket gin], because you had to start with at least 96% ABV ethanol alcohol," Carter said. "That's food-grade, it's safe. They may have added artificial flavourings and essences afterwards, but they're not harmful."

He added that supermarket own-brand gins are what is called "cold-compounded gin," made in a stainless steel tank using alcohol with added natural or artifical flavourings and essences. It's stirred, infused for a few days, then water is added before it's bottled.

"It's very easy to make a lot of it," he said, adding that if a litre bottle is £14 at the store, £12.30 of that is tax.

"If that's your everyday gin and tonic kind of gin, I'm not going to say anything bad about that. There's not going to be a huge amount of complexity to the flavour, [which is why you] pay more money to go up the spectrum a bit."

5. Not being specific with your order at a bar

Carter says people should treat ordering a gin and tonic like they would a martini. "If you like drinking martinis, you'll order it with this gin, with this vermouth, stirred 29.5 times or whatever, with 2.5 olives — people are very specific. I think you'll see a lot more of that coming through [with gin]."

6. Thinking too much ice will dilute your drink

"The mistake I see a lot, all day, every day, is that people don't put enough ice in their gin and tonic," Carter said. "There's a massive misconception that people don't want too much dilution, so they put one or two ice cubes in there, and they melt really quickly."

However, he said it's actually the opposite if you want your drink to stay cold, because if there's more ice in the glass, it melts more slowly.

"The more ice the better," he said.

7. Not buying good tonic...

Many people who think they don't like gin have only tried it in a gin and tonic, according to Carter — and it's the tonic that they don't like.

"Tonic is bitter — that's enough to but a lot of people off," he said, adding: "They think it's the gin. When they try gin as a cocktail, they say they didn't realise they liked gin."

Carter uses Fever Tree tonic — because it's local, "very good quality," and uses natural flavours — but says he favours a number of other brands as well, including Schweppes Cucumber Tonic.

If all else fails, you can try gin with ginger ale, which has no bitterness and is set to be the next trend, according to Carter.

8. ...or buying litre bottles

Another big tip on tonic from Carter? "The temptation is to go for a litre bottle for value for money," he said. "If you're serving a crowd, totally go for a litre bottle, but if it's just you and a partner drinking one gin and tonic per night, by the third night it's going to be flat.

"You're better off biting the bullet and going for smaller, more expensive cans," he said, adding that you'll be able to keep your tonic fresh by online opening one per day.

9. Getting the balance wrong

When you're making a cocktail — whether it's with gin or another spirit, you should keep an old bartender's rhyme, in mind, according to Carter: sour, sweet, strong, weak.

"One part sweet, two parts sour, three parts alcohol, four parts lengthener or effervescent," he said. "Generally you'll create a perfectly balanced cocktail, with twice as much sourness as sweetness — something like a Tom Collins, a long refreshing drink."

He added: "Cocktails shouldn't be that overpowering with the alcohol, they should be perfectly balanced."

SEE ALSO: The 3 mistakes people make when buying, ordering, and drinking whisky — and what to do instead

SEE ALSO: The 9 mistakes people make when buying, ordering, and drinking coffee — and what to do instead

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What will happen when Earth's north and south poles flip

• The Marvel Cinematic Universe has lasted 10 years and 18 movies, and shows no signs of slowing down. 
• In anticipation for "Avengers: Infinity War," we've looked back at its best moments and ranked them. 

Marvel's "Avengers: Infinity War" is the culmination of 10 years and 18 movies of buildup. This weekend, the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy finally take on Thanos.

In anticipation for the film, we've looked back on the Marvel Cinematic Universe's best moments. Marvel Studios has given audiences a bevy of memorable ones for casual moviegoers and super-fans alike. 

From Tony Stark's first armored suit that started it all, to most recently "Black Panther's" emphasis on a strong supporting cast of fearless women, the MCU has managed to both portray the best parts of the comic books, and please audiences of all kinds.

Below are 16 of the best moments leading up to "Infinity War," ranked. (Major spoiler warning if you haven't seen these films): 

SEE ALSO: 'Avengers: Infinity War' is worth the 10-year wait and will rip your heart out

16. Star-Lord vs. Ego ("Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2")

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" attempts to be more emotional than its predecessor. Some of it doesn't work, but when it does, it works really well. For instance, when Star-Lord's father, the evil cosmic being named Ego, reveals that he gave his mother the tumor that killed her, Star-Lord realizes his long-lost dad isn't who he thought he was. The ensuing battle is a blast of action and even some Pac-Man, and that earlier revelation gives it an extra emotional weight. 

15. Odin exiles Thor ("Thor")

The first "Thor" is not that great, but it somehow managed to lure Anthony Hopkins to play Thor's father, Odin. Thank the gods, because this scene is lifted by his presence. When Thor royally messes up a truce between the people of Thor's homeworld Asgard and the Frost Giants, Odin banishes Thor to Earth until he is worthy enough to wield the hammer Mjolner once again. It's such an effective scene because of Hopkins' performance. 

14. The raceway fight ("Iron Man 2")

"Iron Man 2" is one of the worst films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but one scene in particular stands out for being an impressive, effects-driven action sequence. Mickey Rourke is unfortunately underutilized as the villain Whiplash in the movie, but he makes a worthy grand entrance during a fight scene on the Monaco Raceway. 

Cancer is the No. 2 cause of death in the US, second only to heart disease.

It fundamentally affects the way our cells grow and divide, changing them in perverse ways. All cancer is a result of damage or genetic mutations in our DNA. The nasty, debilitating class of diseases spreads through a body like an invading army, as toxic cells grow relentlessly into unruly tumors.

Some cases of cancer are out of our control, determined by genetic defects and predispositions passed down from one generation to the next, or spurred by genetic changes we undergo through our lifetime.

But we also know that breathing in certain substances, eating specific things, and even using some kinds of plastics ups the risk of developing some deadly cancers.

Here are some known carcinogens (cancer-causers), as well as a few more things scientists are zeroing in on as prime suspects.

SEE ALSO: A study of more than 100,000 people has found that one food group is closely linked with cancer

Sugar

Scientists now know that eating too much sweet stuff can not only lead to diabetes, but actively damage your cells and increase your risk of developing cancer.

But that's not all.

New research suggests that sugar may fuel tumor growth in the body — because cancer loves to use sugar as fuel.

"The hyperactive sugar consumption of cancerous cells leads to a vicious cycle of continued stimulation of cancer development and growth" Johan Thevelein, a Belgian molecular biologist, said in October after the release of his study.

Scientists say that the groundbreaking research gives us a better understanding of how sugar and cancer interact and that it could one day help create targeted diet strategies for patients.

Processed foods

Any food that comes in a crinkly plastic wrapper, is industrially sealed, and is designed to last for months without spoiling may be a quick on-the-go fix for a hunger pang, but it's also most likely increasing your risk of cancer.

Scientists in France recently zeroed in on a link between people who eat more processed foods and those who develop cancer.

They're not sure yet whether the problem is the shelf-stabilizing ingredients, the plastic packaging, or some combination of the two. And because their study was correlative, it's possible there's some other hidden factor at work.

Smoking

Though the tobacco industry tried to cover this one up, we've known for years that tobacco smoke has at least 70 cancer-causing chemicals inside.

And it's not just smokers who are affected — people who inhale secondhand smoke can develop deadly forms of cancer too.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says: "Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or at work increase their risk of developing lung cancer by 20-30%."

People who chew their tobacco are at increased risk too.

• The 2018 Buick LaCrosse is available in a new "Avenir" trim level.
• I tested a well-equipped $47,485 version of the sedan.
• On a medium-length road trip, the Buick surpassed my expectations and made me question why I think we need a big SUV to haul around a family of five.

The passenger-car business is collapsing in the US. The big, soft-cruising sedan was once the mainstay, the great American family car.

But now the great American car is actually an SUV. Sales of utes have boomed for years, and the automakers aren't complaining because they make hefty profits on these vehicles. Consumers like them better, and that has raised a conundrum: Are sedans worth keeping around?

If you're planning any family road trips in the future, you might want to give sedans a second look — and your first-second look should be a Buick. Specifically, the new premium Avenir trim level. 

Recently, I drove my family of five and my dog on a 500-mile round-trip journey. Normally, I use trips such as these to sample big old SUVs, with three rows of seating. But a planning screwup on my part led to a 2018 Buick LaCrosse Avenir landing in my driveway instead of a Cadillac Escalade. 

So we undertook a throwback family jaunt. And it worked out far better than expected.

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Say hello to the Buick LaCrosse Avenir, an upmarket trim level of the full-size sedan. Debuted in 2005, the LaCrosse was updated in 2010 and then again in 2017.

It's not a small car, but Buicks always take some of the bulk off with smooth curves and sinuous shapes.

Our test car was a front-wheel-drive version that came in at $44,870 with many options and the Avenir treatment. A Driver Confidence package, featuring adaptive cruise control, auto braking, pedestrian warnings, and parking assist added $1,700 to the sticker, bringing the as-tested price up to about $47,500.

The paint job was "Dark Slate Metallic."

You could obviously call the styling a bit dull. Or you could say that the LaCrosse isn't showing off.

• Melania Trump wore a glamorous cape on Monday, while welcoming the French president to the White House. 
• This isn't the first time the first lady has sported a cape or a pseudo-cape, crafted from her off-the-shoulders coats.
• The cape represents a glamorous sense of mystery that Trump wants to convey to America — something she has in common with Kim Kardashian, another fan of the cape. 
•  Capes are set to be "every where you look" in fall 2018, according to Vogue. 

Melania Trump is bringing back the cape. 

On Monday, the first lady sported a $2,790 Givenchy cape to welcome French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Bridgette to the White House. 

This isn't the first time the first lady has been spotted in a high-fashion cape. Unlike Michelle Obama, who is known for her down-to-earth J. Crew, Trump has doubled down on her glamorous fashion choices. 

There's a clear strategy behind Trump's fashion choices which align her with another cape-lover — Kim Kardashian. 

Here's a brief history of Melania Trump's cape obsession, as well as why the cape craze is on the cusp of spreading across the US. 

SEE ALSO: Melania Trump wore a huge white hat for the French president's arrival ceremony — and people are freaking out and comparing her to Beyoncé

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron's visit is just the most recent instance of Trump donning a cape.

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She wore a $8,000 Monique Lhuillier caplet gown during a black tie dinner at the White House.

Source: Daily Mail

Trump also wore a cape-style dress while on a trip to Mar-a-Lago.

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• Only 44 men have held the office of the President of the United States of America.
• Former American presidents seem to have a bond that transcends politics.
• From formal events, to galas, fundraisers, and funerals — presidents stay within the same circle and see each other throughout the course of their lives.  

It's not easy to join the President's Club, but once you do, only few can understand the effect it has on you.

That might explain why former presidents have a bond that seems to transcend politics.

From formal events, to galas, fundraisers, and funerals — presidents stay within the same circle and see each other throughout the course of their lives.  

Most recently, former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton attended former first lady Barbara Bush's funeral at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston. Before they left, all of the attending former presidents and their spouses took a rare group photo together— and it quickly went viral. The photo was taken by Paul Morse, a former White House photographer during the George W. Bush administration.

Below, we've rounded up additional photos of former US presidents hanging out together.

SEE ALSO: What Donald Trump and other US presidents looked like when they were young

Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama attended former first lady Barbara Bush's funeral in April 2018. They are pictured here along with former Presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush, former first lady Hillary Clinton, and former first lady Michelle Obama.

Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter joined each other on stage at the opening of a hurricanes relief concert in College Station, Texas, in October, 2017.

Obama, Bush and Clinton posed during the first round foursomes match of The President's Cup golf tournament at Liberty National Golf Course in New Jersey in September, 2017.

• Hulu's Emmy-winning drama series, "The Handmaid's Tale," has a 100% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes for its second season, which premieres Wednesday.
• Extending beyond the Margaret Atwood dystopian novel that its first season was adapted from, "The Handmaid's Tale's" second season is getting laudatory reviews. 

Hulu's Emmy-winning drama series, "The Handmaid's Tale," has a 100% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes for its second season, which premieres its first two episodes on Wednesday.

Extending beyond the plot of the Margaret Atwood dystopian novel that its first season was adapted from, "The Handmaid's Tale's" second season is getting laudatory reviews for doubling down on the series' powerful bleakness and gripping drama. 

The first season of "The Handmaid's Tale" received a 95% "Fresh" rating, along with eight Primetime Emmy awards, including the award for Outstanding Drama Series, making it the first show released by a streaming service to win the top Emmy award.

"The Handmaid's Tale" follows the plight of Elisabeth Moss as June, a "handmaid" servant who is forced into sexual servitude by the government of a totalitarian, near-future United States called Gilead. Its second season expands beyond June's perspective to depict more of the vast horrors that show's world entails. 

The Boston Globe's Matthew Gilbert had high praise for the show's second season in a review, writing, "I was blown away by the first hours of the new season, which are so gripping that my blood pressure rose right along with my admiration for everyone behind this series."

New York Magazine's Jen Chaney wrote that the series "remains one of the most meticulously, thoughtfully photographed series on television."

Many critics expressed that the series' brutality and bleakness make it a particularly difficult watch over the course of its new season, but as The New York Times' James Poniewozik put it in his review, "sometimes the best testament to a story's effectiveness is that it makes you hope for it to end."

Watch "The Handmaid's Tale" here.

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NOW WATCH: We did a blind taste test of 7 alcohol-free beers — here's the verdict

• Alcohol is almost universally present in the Western social scene.
• From 21st birthdays to happy hours to weekend cocktails — author Jennifer Still has consumed her fair share of alcohol in her younger years but has since chosen to give it up for good.
• Since quitting alcohol five years ago, Still has saved money, improved her health, and permanently eliminated the hellish hangover we all love to hate. 

From high school parties to 21st birthday blowouts to after-work happy hours, it's safe to say that we live in a drinking culture. Whether it's a glass of wine after a long, hard day or cocktails over the weekend, the idea that we need drinks to celebrate, wind down, or numb our brains in the midst of tough times is pretty much a given.

I wasn't immune to this, and I spent my early to mid-20s getting on a first name basis with Jack Daniels and developing a preference for Tanqueray over Bombay. While I was never heavily reliant on alcohol, I still recognized it as the useful and occasionally necessary social tool that it was, and I hated that I often felt pressured to drink when I didn't really feel like it. Eventually, I decided to cut out booze for good, and and five years later, it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Here's why.

SEE ALSO: A Yale psychologist reveals the simple trick he used to finally quit drinking for good

1. I never have to deal with hellish hangovers

The times I got drunk enough to pay the price the following morning have been etched into my brain as experiences I never want to repeat again. Throwing up, sweating, and feeling like death would level me for 24 hours, and it just wasn't worth it.

If you’ve ever had one too many drinks, then you know the feeling. Now that I don't drink, I'm always baffled by the fact that so many people see hangovers as inevitable annoyances rather than totally avoidable if they just laid off the alcohol.

2. I save a lot of money

Because I always opt for $2 Diet Cokes instead of $9 martinis when I go out, I have more cash in my wallet to save — or, let's be real, to spend on the late night pizza that will call my name.

Drinking is expensive. Sure, there are happy hour deals and well drinks if you're tight on money — but even those add up if you're out every weekend. I prefer to put my hard-earned dollars toward vacations or other experiences I'll actually be able to remember the next day.

3. I don’t embarrass myself quite so often

I can be clumsy and awkward for sure, but I can safely say that I'll never again make a fool out of myself in front of my friends, partner, or perfect strangers because I'm too drunk to remember what appropriate behavior looks like. In turn, other drunk people acting like idiots is a serious pet peeve of mine now.

• Kanye West took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to write that his shoe brand, Yeezy, is expecting to hire 160 people and "hit a billion dollars" this year. 
• West followed that announcement with an extended series of tweets, claiming he is "currently the single highest paid person in footwear."

Kanye West took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to announce that his shoe brand, Yeezy, is expecting to hire 160 people and "hit a billion dollars" this year.

"It is the 2nd fastest growing company in history," West wrote. "It is a unicorn on its way to becoming a decacorn."

In Silicon Valley parlance, a "unicorn" is a privately held startup company valued at over $1 billion. A "decacorn" is such a company that is valued at over $10 billion. It is unclear how West's company, Yeezy, a brand partnership with Adidas, could technically become either.

Adidas doesn't break out sales for the Yeezy lineup when it reports its quarterly earnings (those sales are lumped into its Adidas Originals category, which has seen double-digit sales growth), so the overall value of the Yeezy brand is unknown.

West followed that announcement with an extended series of tweets, claiming that he is "currently the single highest paid person in footwear," and touting the success of his shoe line. 

"Yeezy will become the biggest apparel company in human history by working with the most genius level talents and creating product at an affordable price," West wrote. "I hired the head of supply chain from the Gap."

West added that the success of Yeezy "could've never happened at Nike," the company that previously released West's shoes. "Adidas have been great partners and they've let Yeezy be Yeezy," he wrote.

West said that the Yeezy 700 shoe has been Adidas' "most requested shoe" and that his Desert Rat 500 shoe "sold 250 thousand in one hour on Coachella weekend."

West also took aim at media outlets he perceived as covering him negatively.

"People magazine. Watch how you speak my name. You would love a pair of Yeezys," he wrote. 

SEE ALSO: Hulu's 'The Handmaid's Tale' season 2 has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, topping its Emmy-winning debut season

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NOW WATCH: The story behind Warren Buffett's million dollar charity lunches at Smith & Wollensky

• Sam's Club is known for its bulk products and huge savings, but it's a members-only store that costs at least $45 a year to join.
• You don't need to have a membership to make use of some of Sam's Club's services, like the optical center or food court.
• Sam's Club's online store and guest pass policy have also made it easier to shop at Sam's Club without a membership.

SEE ALSO: We shopped at Costco and Sam's Club to see which is better — and there's a clear reason why you should join one over the other

Print out a single day guest pass from Sam's Club's website.

The guest pass allows you to shop at Sam's Club without a membership, but you'll be charged a 10% service fee. California, South Carolina, and Elmsford, NY are exempt from the fee.

(Source: Sam's Club)

Become a complimentary add-on member on a friend or family member's account.

(Source: Reader's Digest)

Shop at Sam's Club's online store.

Non-members can shop online at samsclub.com, but a 10% service fee is applied unless you live in California, South Carolina, and Elmsford, NY.

(Source: Sam's Club)

• Air India, India's debt-ridden, flailing national carrier is one of the two airlines that flies nonstop to India from the US.
• In March, I took the nonstop 15-hour flight between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Last month, I went on my annual pilgrimage to India. My parents still live there, so a trip once a year or so is nonnegotiable.

But this time, instead of settling for a connecting flight with a layover in Europe, I decided to fly nonstop to New Delhi — not only to save time but because the direct flight during this time of the year didn't come with the exorbitant price tag that it usually comes with around the Christmas holidays.

My only two options were United, which is a 15-hour flight from Newark Liberty International Airport, and Air India, which takes around the same time, but departs from New York's John F. Kennedy . I decided to go with an economy ticket on the latter.

Make no mistake: Air India has a terrible reputation. India's national carrier is a flailing, debt-ridden airline that frequently ends up at the very bottom of global rankings. Its facilities are hardly state-of-the-art, and it often gets dismal customer-service reviews.

I was nervous, as I too had a bad experience flying Air India before. But I had last flown the airline on this route all the way back in 2010, as a tourist to the US heading back to India. So I decided to give it another shot.

Here's what I thought of my Air India flight, departing from JFK at 2:25 p.m. for New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International, operated on a Boeing 777-300 ER.

SEE ALSO: Take a look inside the hidden bedrooms on board Boeing's 787 Dreamliner

I arrived at JFK at 11:55 a.m. for my flight at 2:25 p.m. on a Saturday. I had two medium-sized bags, and a carry-on, even though only one is pictured here.

I like to show up at least three hours in advance for international flights, so I was a little worried when I saw how crowded the terminal was. But despite the long lines, I was past both check-in and security by 12:20 p.m.

Not too long after that, it was time to board the Boeing 777-300. I felt a surge of patriotism upon spotting the Indian flag. Fun fact: The tail is supposed to be a red flying swan with a "Chakra" in orange inside it — a version of the blue 24-spoked wheel at the center of the flag.

• Millennials were born between 1981 and 1996.
• Xennials are a "microgeneration" born between 1977 and 1985.
• There are meaningful differences between their lives. For example, xennials were already in the workforce when the recession hit, while many millennials were just graduating from college.

If you were born between 1977 and 1985, you're officially a member of the microgeneration known as xennials.

The term was coined by Sarah Stankorb in a 2014 Good magazine article to describe a group that straddles Gen X, born between 1965 and 1980, and millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, according to the Pew Research Center.

Xennials, according to Stankorb and the many similar stories that followed, grew up watching "My So-Called Life" and popping cassettes into the stereo, but transitioned pretty seamlessly to using smartphones and social media.

Some people call them the "Oregon Trail generation," after the once popular video game, or "Generation Catalano," after Jared Leto's character in "My So-Called Life."

Below, we've outlined some of the biggest differences between xennials and their slightly younger siblings, millennials.

SEE ALSO: There's a term for people born in the early 80s who don't feel like a millennial or a Gen X-er — here's everything we know

Xennials were already in the workforce when the recession hit. Many millennials, however, were just graduating from college and looking for jobs. Interestingly, some research suggests that xennials may have been hit hardest by the recession because of a combination of student-loan debt, job losses, and other factors.

Sources: GOOD Magazine and CityLab

Many xennials made it through their childhood and teen years without social media — no Facebook or even Myspace. Many millennials, on the other hand, had Myspace and Facebook accounts before entering college.

Source: Social Media Week

On September 11, 2001, xennials were in their teens and 20s; millennials were much younger. As one writer said of xennials, "Much of our childhoods were spared the dark shadow cast by tragedy and war," while millennials were somewhat shaken out of their innocence.

Source: GOOD Magazine

• Castbox is a podcast player that gives curated recommendations based on each user's listening behavior. So it's like Netflix for podcasting.
• Renee Wang, founder and CEO of Castbox, sold her home to fund the company. In the early days, she slept on a bed in Castbox's offices.
• Castbox just raised $13.5 million in funding to fuel growth.

When Renee Wang quit her job at Google to launch a new podcasting app, she knew zero investors, making it much harder to get the cash to get a startup off the ground.

Her solution? Sell her home in Beijing.

"At that time, I didn't have an alternative solution," Wang told Business Insider.

Now, three years after its founding in 2015, her startup Castbox is on the rise, as it today announces a $13.5 million Series B round of financing led by SIG China. That brings Castbox's total funding up to $29 million, helping fuel its operations as it reaches over 1.5 million users. 

Wang refers to Castbox as the "Netflix of podcasting." The podcast player makes it easy for users to discover relevant podcasts by giving curated recommendations based on each user's unique listening behavior. Plus, Castbox creates original podcasts of its very own.

While there are plenty of podcast apps — including the one that comes built into the iPhone — Castbox has one killer feature: It uses a technology based on "natural language processing" and machine learning to help you search its library of 50 million podcast episodes for a specific keyword or phrase. The results pop up from a search bar, and you can hop right to the part you need.

The company's new round of financing will allow it to invest further in original content and bring new audiences into the fold, according to Wang.

She bet the house on Castbox

Wang used to spend hours a day commuting between her apartment in Tokyo and the offices of Google Japan, where she worked as an account manager in the mobile apps division. She started listening to podcasts to study Japanese and pass the time, but struggled to find a player that supported different languages and gave relevant recommendations. An idea sparked.

"Maybe I can develop my own," Wang remembered thinking to herself.

She left Google and returned to her home country of China, where she built Castbox and hired the first few employees with the money she made from selling her one-bedroom condo in Beijing. She slept in shifts on a shared bed in the company's offices to save time and money.

The app was an instant hit. Two months after launch, Castbox saw over 100,000 downloads.

'Netflix for podcasting'

Castbox grew quickly, and it needed more financing to grow the team and expand its features.

The company landed its first investment in 2016 when a Chinese investment firm, ZhenFund, heard Wang's pitch, made some calls to check her references, and returned with a term sheet within a half hour — an unusually speedy turnaround in traditional venture capital.

Wang walked away with $1 million.

Podcasts have been "having a moment" since 2014, when blockbuster podcast "Serial" introduced the format to a broader audience. More than a third of Americans have ever listened to a podcast, an increase of 13% over 2013, according to a survey by market research firm Edison Research.

With the podcast renaissance showing no signs of slowing, Wang imagines that, someday, people will turn to Castbox for "on-demand audio" in the same way they binge TV and movies on Netflix.

Her goal for 2018 is to launch several more original programs, with an emphasis on giving a voice to female hosts. (In 2017, women hosted just 13% of the top 100 podcasts in the US.)

Today, Wang alternates working in Castbox's offices in San Francisco and Beijing. She does, indeed, sleep and have an apartment, Wang said. She converted the company's old office in Beijing into an apartment, which gives her a one-minute commute to the new office nearby.

When Business Insider spoke with Wang, it was 11:30 at night in Beijing. We heard rumblings in the background, which Wang said was her team members in the office hard at work on the app.

"This is how we work. I believe there's a lot of smart people who are much smarter [than me]. If we want to deliver, I need to pay more effort and try my best," Wang said.

SEE ALSO: High schoolers across America will start playing video games for sport this fall — meet the 25-year-old Detroit native who made it happen

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NOW WATCH: Tim Ferriss’s top self-improvement tip stresses the importance of who you surround yourself with

• Charismatic people have certain traits and behaviors in common that make them likable.
• Above all, they focus on other people instead of themselves.
• For example, they ask lots of questions in conversation, show empathy, and nod attentively.

Everyone worries from time to time.

Maybe you walked into a roomful of coworkers whispering and assumed they were gossiping about you. Or maybe your friends forgot to include you on the email chain for an upcoming getaway.

Our advice? Relax. You're probably plenty well-liked.

But if you're really worried about it, we've put together a list of research-and-expert-backed signs that you're likable — perhaps even more so than you realize.

You'll notice that many of the items on this list have to do with paying more attention to other people and less attention to yourself. Somewhat ironically, once you stop worrying about being likable, you'll have a better chance at winning other people over.

SEE ALSO: 8 signs you're likable at the office, even if it doesn't feel like it

You make a great first impression

First impressions are notoriously hard to shake — so if you make a solid one, you're basically set up to be likable for life.

In one 2016 study published in the journal of Social Psychological and Personality Science, researchers found that participants' evaluations of people in photographs ended up influencing their perceptions of those people even after they'd met them in real life.

That said, if you do make a poor first impression, there are ways to reverse it. For example, if someone views you negatively, you can help them see your behavior in a new context.

Say you ignore an acquaintance on the street because you just had a massive fight with your partner and aren't in the mood to talk. Later you find out that the acquaintance thinks you're a jerk. You might want to get in touch with her and explain that you normally love talking to her, but you'd just finished sobbing and didn't want to embarrass yourself or her.

You show positive emotions

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood! (Isn't it?)

According to a research paper from the Ohio State University and the University of Hawaii, people can unconsciously feel the emotions of those around them.

The authors of the paper say that's possibly because we naturally mimic others' movements and facial expressions, which in turn makes us feel something similar to what they're feeling.

It follows then that if you're generally upbeat and enthusiastic, other people will feel the same when you're around.

You're not always perfect

Ever tripped on the carpet on your way out of an important meeting? Go you!

Science suggests that revealing you aren't perfect can make you seem more relatable and vulnerable toward the people around you.

Researcher Elliot Aronson at the University of Texas, Austin first discovered this phenomenon when he studied how simple mistakes can affect perceived attraction. He asked male students from the University of Minnesota to listen to tape recordings of people taking a quiz.

When people did well on the quiz but spilled coffee at the end of the interview, the students rated them higher on likability than when they did well on the quiz and didn't spill coffee or didn't do well on the quiz and spilled coffee.

In other words, you have to reveal that you're competent before making a mistake — otherwise you'll just seem silly.