What’s in the Blue Box From Tiffany? An Investigation

Sure, there are important things happening today. But we’ll talk about that somewhere else. Here’s what we want to know:

What’s in the box?

As Donald J. Trump and his wife, Melania, arrived at the White House on Friday morning to begin inauguration ceremonies, Mrs. Trump presented the departing first lady, Michelle Obama, with a blue box from Tiffany & Company — a company that happens to have a flagship store next to the Trump Tower in Manhattan.

The gift’s arrival seemed unexpected, and it briefly created an awkward moment, as Mrs. Obama tried to figure out what to do with it. She turned this way and that way. The motionless Marine behind her didn’t look particularly interested in holding it. There was no table to put it on. What’s a departing first lady to do?

President Obama made an executive decision: He took the box, walked inside and handed it to an unknown person.

The moment was widely received on social media as a graceful parting gift from Mrs. Trump.

But we still don’t know what the gift was. This lack of information did not sit well with observers.

We asked a spokesman from Tiffany some carefully calibrated questions:

What may have been in the box?

Did the size suggest a particular item?

Was there a special bow? Anything?

Sadly, the company declined to play ball.

“The White House has been a patron of the house of Tiffany & Co. since Abraham Lincoln,” Nathan Strauss, the director of corporate communications, wrote in an email.

That was the entire email.

Come on! We don’t have time to wait for facts! This is the internet! We need to guess the facts now!

Thankfully, social media filled the void. Some speculation was earnest; others a bit less so.

Which one is true? We don’t know. Sorry.

But we will update this article if we ever get an answer.