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Here's the Latest Explanation for Melania Trump's Infamous 'I Really Don't Care, Do U?' Jacket


Melania Trump is described as a “mysterious First Lady” weathering a chaotic White House in an in-depth New York Times profile published on Friday. The piece examines her role in the administration and references the “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” jacket that created a lot of controversy during her visit to the border in June—which, according to a source in the story, she wore as a statement toward anyone “outside and inside the White House” critical of her decision to visit a shelter for migrant children.

If you remember, Trump was photographed stepping out of her car at the Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland before boarding a jet to the Texas Upbring New Hope Children’s Shelter. The images captured her green jacket, made by Zara, emblazoned with the words, “I really don’t care, do u?” Many instantly took issue with the First Lady’s choice of fashion, calling it tone-deaf and insensitive in the context of her visit to a children’s shelter during the family separation crisis.

Already, there have been myriad excuses made for the jacket: Donald Trump said his wife was addressing the news media, while Melania’s camp wrote in an email to White House pool reporters, “It’s a jacket. There was no hidden message.” This new explanation from the Times‘ anonymous source suggests that the jacket was a calculated move aimed at detractors who took issue with the First Lady visiting the children’s shelter—a move that would seem to conflict with her husband’s hard-line stances on immigration.

Per the article, “a person close to Mrs. Trump said the jacket was actually directed at anyone—both outside and inside the White House—who wanted to criticize her decision to visit the children in light of the administration’s aggressive immigration policies.”

Despite the reframing of the situation, the East Wing insisted to the New York Times that the jacket “had no underlying message.”

“No one tells the first lady what to do,” Trump’s communications director Stephanie Grisham says in the piece. “Our office has nothing to do with what clothing choices she makes, and this situation was no different.”

Melania has made headlines for occasionally seeming to contradict the President—most recently, she released a statement applauding basketball player Lebron James’ charitable work after her husband bashed him on Twitter. However, many people have accused her of being disengaged, since she rarely appears in public. She’s also faced backlash for her frequent silence amid the administration’s more controversial moments and for her “Be Best” campaign against cyberbullying, which has been called ironic, given the President’s tendency to lambast people online. (It’s also had some trouble taking off).

That’s about it on the jacket front, but the Times‘ profile makes for a good read—click on over to it here.

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Every Time Melania Trump Seemed to Publicly Contradict Her Husband


The role of First Lady is one that’s evolved over time and takes a different tone with each new family assuming residence in the White House. Often, the wife of the president is expected to be a quiet supporter who champions less overtly political platforms during her time in the White House—like Laura Bush’s focus on literacy or Michelle Obama’s efforts to improve children’s fitness and diet. Of course, one notable exception is Hillary Rodham Clinton, who took on policy efforts like healthcare during her husband Bill’s two-term presidency. And she took a lot of heat in the press because of it.

“From the inauguration of the very first president in 1789, Americans have paid a lot of attention to the president’s wife—how she dressed, entertained, spoke out on issues, etc,” Betty Boyd Caroli, author of Lady Bird and Lyndon: The Hidden Story of a Marriage that Made a President, tells Glamour. “Of course, the Constitution makes no mention of an official role for the presidential spouse, and each one has made her own decisions about how big a role she would take.”

The Trump presidency is unprecedented in countless ways, not least of which is Melania Trump’s role in the administration. Earlier this year, after some criticism of its delay, she unveiled Be Best, her first official initiative as First Lady. “There are too many critical issues facing children today. So the three main pillars of ‘Be Best’ will include well-being, social media use, and opioid abuse,” she announced from the White House Rose Garden on May 7. For anyone else, the platform would’ve been innocuous enough, but critics citing her husband’s own propensity to attack his detractors on Twitter were quick to comment.

But, for all the conversation about the First Lady’s behavior, her absence and even the statements she makes with her wardrobe, it’s clear her role is proving to break tradition in an entirely different way. Unlike the First Ladies before her, she has publicly appeared to contradict Donald Trump in ways that are confounding to both the political media and the public at large. From the most recent incident around NBA star Lebron James to her own Be Best platform, it’s hard to discern whether this is a good cop/bad cop strategy or just Melania expressing her world views, POTUS’ opinion be damned.

We may never know exactly why this is happening, but we do know it’s something different than what the country has witnessed during past terms.

“Since the 1960s, all [First Ladies] campaigned extensively for their husbands, named a large and competent staff to assist in the White House, took on a project to boost the administration’s legacy, and—except for Pat Nixon—wrote a book about their White House years after they left,” says Boyd Caroli. “Melania Trump, perhaps because of her upbringing in a very different political system, seems to see the job differently.”

Here, we’re keeping track of every time FLOTUS seems to contradict or deflect from her very vocal husband.



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Team Melania Trump: Congressional Candidate's 'Hoebag' Insults Are 'Despicable'


An Oregon Congressional hopeful apparently isn’t trying to “Be Best” on Twitter when it comes to Melania Trump: Independent Mark Roberts is getting convicted in the court of public opinion for a tweet calling the First Lady a “hoebag” who “works by the hour.”

Roberts lashed out at the presidential spouse and former model this week after the leader of a national organization for young conservatives noted that Trump has a much smaller East Wing staff than her predecessor, Michelle Obama.

FLOTUS spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham lambasted Roberts’ insult, telling Glamour in her first comments on the issue, “This is just more hypocritical intolerance from those who oppose her husband’s administration. To say such ugly words about a mother, wife and our First Lady is not just a pathetic attempt at getting himself in the news, it is disturbing and despicable.”

Male and female A-listers in Republican circles called Roberts out for the sexist slam.

Among the many White House allies urging Twitter boss Jack Dorsey to shut Roberts down: House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who said “comments like these have no business on any platform.”

Republican National Committee Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel, who’s just the second woman in party history to hold its top job, tweeted, “This attack on @FLOTUS is disgusting and everyone should condemn this candidate and his candidacy.”

And Fox News host Laura Ingraham questioned why the head of Twitter hadn’t suspended the account—prompting Roberts to double down by responding, “Let the donations begin in 3 2 1..”

Roberts also tweeted a screenshot of what appeared to be a response from Twitter saying it had investigated the comment but had taken no action because his remark did not violate the platform’s rules. “It’s that whole 1st amendment thing,” he added.

Roberts calls himself an independent conservative and says on his website that he’s neither a fan of the Trump Administration nor “the exclusiveness and intolerance that’s exhibited by the current Republican Party.”

The House member currently representing Oregon’s District 2 is a Republican, and Roberts will go up against him and a Democratic challenger in November’s midterms. The Roberts campaign did not immediately respond to a Glamour request for comment Wednesday morning.

It wasn’t only headliners who condemned his crude comment: Others in the Twitterverse rushed to the First Lady’s defense, calling Roberts’ broadside “classless” and “sickening.”

One user told Roberts, “You barely pass for a mature adult much less someone wanting to represent his state by running for congress” — and capped the response with the hashtag #bullying.

Combating bullying, as it happens, is a pillar of the First Lady’s “Be Best” campaign, which promotes respect and civility, specifically among children, as well as raising awareness of the national opioid crisis.

Some critics and wags sneered after Be Best’s May launch that if Trump wants to take on cyberbullies, she might want to start with her husband, who churns out a steady stream of political and personal insults on his own Twitter feed. Others say it’s not fair to take a wife — even the First Lady — to task for a husband’s behavior.

Rina Shah, a Republican strategist who promotes political engagement among women, told Glamour the Roberts incident demonstrates that “our nation’s political discourse has, unfortunately for all of us, continued to sink to new lows. Americans deserve real leadership and ideas from political candidates instead of illogical mudslinging and name-calling.”

Platforms like Twitter “have long allowed damaging comments against women to exist without accountability; however, voters in this Oregon district can hold Roberts accountable by not casting their vote for him—essentially sending the message that when you attack one woman, you attack all women,” Shah said via email.

“Regardless of what anyone thinks about Melania Trump’s life choices prior to entering the White House, she doesn’t deserve to be talked about in this manner nor should she be implicated for her any of her husband’s undignified remarks or behavior.”





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Melania Trump's Facial Expression After Meeting Putin Sparks Twitter Reactions


On Tuesday, Melania Trump had the pleasure of joining her husband, President Donald Trump, during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, where the two world leaders reportedly discussed how to improve relations between their two nations going forward (and colluded in public, according to multiple news outlet opinions).

Although, it might be more accurate to say Melania had the displeasure of meeting Putin, if her facial expression after shaking his hand was any indication.

The scene was standard: As is customary for presidents and first ladies, the Trumps shook hands and posed for a photo with Putin before the summit began. Trump was his usual long-handshake self, while Melania was more refined, clasping Putin’s hand for a more practical one or two seconds. But for a split second, before the photographers started clicking, the first lady appeared to flash through a multitude of facial expressions—none of which exactly embodied happiness, as eagle-eyed Twitter users noted. “Watch Melania’s face, she’s terrified. I’m starting to feel for her,” one wrote. “Watch Melania’s face and body language after shaking Putin’s hand. She is scared to death of him,” another added, while a third user tweeted, “She looks like she just stared into the eyes of evil….”

Other Twitter users used this viral moment to add some levity to what has been a divisive trip for the Trumps so far. “It’s so cruel to tweet jokes about Trump being in love with Putin what if Melania sees and thinks she’s finally free,” one person wrote. “The funny look from Putin, right after the ball was passed to Melania,” added a second user.

Besides this unusual interaction, Mrs. Trump seems have had a decent time during her husband’s European trip, which began last week when she met Queen Elizabeth II and wore a yellow J. Mendel gown that Twitter deemed meme-worthy.

Related:

How Melania Trump’s Jacket Inadvertently Raised Money for Democrats





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President Trump and First Lady Melania Met Queen Elizabeth II for Tea


While a giant baby Donald Trump blimp flew across the London skies to protest his visit, (yes, that happened), Queen Elizabeth II capped off a busy week of royal activities by hosting the U.S. President and First Lady Melania Trump for Friday tea at Windsor Castle.

And just in case you’re wondering, this is the same castle where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding festivities took place back in May.

The President and First Lady arrived at the castle in a Range Rover driven by two officials. In the past, the queen’s husband, Prince Philip, has driven foreign dignitaries himself, as he did with Barack and Michelle Obama back in 2016. But Prince Philip was not spotted today, according to the White House pool report, nor were any other members of the royal family.

The queen greeted the couple wearing a blue day coat with a matching hat over a yellow and blue floral outfit and carrying one of her signature black bags. FLOTUS, meanwhile, wore a pale Dior skirt suit, according to CNN’s Kate Bennett, who also pointed out that Trump wore Dior when she met Prince Harry at last year’s Invictus Games. After a couple of quick handshakes, the President and First Lady stood for the U.S. national anthem, hands over their hearts.

PHOTO: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

While there were smiles all around during the greeting, it would seem that the Trumps may have kept the queen waiting a tad too long, as she was spotted checking her watch while they were still in the air, arriving by helicopter.

The Trumps did not appear to bow and curtsy upon greeting the queen. But it is actually not required by her majesty, especially for heads of state, according to CNN. After the short walk, they all headed inside for tea.

Twitter, of course, had some thoughts about the meeting—especially since it was taking place as things were hitting the fan back across the pond: On Friday morning 12 Russian nationals were handed indictments by the Justice Department, as a part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia meddling investigation.

And some thought Trump broke protocol by blocking the queen during their walk.

As for what the Trump and the queen discussed over tea? No word yet. But it’s possible he discussed how that Baby Trump blimp made him feel “unwelcome.”

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Melania Trump Wore a Red, White, and Blue Ralph Lauren Dress for the Fourth of July


Melania Trump knew all eyes would be on her when it came to dressing for the Fourth of July—all the more so after a high-profile faux pas involving a certain green military jacket worn to visit migrant children and emblazoned with the phrase “I really don’t care, do u?” on the back. This, along with a series of other much-discussed moments, made choosing her outfit for the Fourth of July—a holiday as American as it gets—weighted with extra significance.

The President and the First Lady hosted a picnic for military families on the White House lawn. Mrs. Trump went with the $2,490, blue-and-white Rivera gingham Ralph Lauren evening dress—who knew gingham could go evening?—anchored by a red, bow-embellished Alexander McQueen belt. Ralph Lauren is traditionally super American (the label has outfitted Olympians), so as far as that vein of criticism could go, the dress is practically, shall we say, unimpeachable. (Plus, it had pockets!)

PHOTO: Yuri Gripas/Bloomberg via Getty Images

As for the rest of her outfit, there is the on-sale $537 belt from Alexander McQueen, the British-based line. (And, well, if it weren’t for those pesky Brits, one could argue wouldn’t have gone off and started a fight for independence, nor, therefore had a Fourth of July to commemorate in the first place.)

Her shoes were—wait for it—flats (very picnic appropriate), and were reportedly from French shoe icon Christian Louboutin. So let’s leave it at that: It was the Fourth of July; FLOTUS wore a dress by an American designer. She got this one spot on.

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