Melania Trump Wears Jacket with 'I Really Don't Care. Do U?' Message to Visit Migrant Children
On Thursday, First Lady Melania Trump visited McAllen, Texas, to witness firsthand the crisis immigrant families are facing as children separated from their parents are held at detention centers on the Mexico-U.S. border. And her message-emblazoned choice of outerwear leading up to her official appearance has the Internet outraged.
As she boarded the plane to Texas, FLOTUS was photographed boarding the plane to Texas wearing a green Zara jacket (which appears to be from a two-year-old collection), featuring the words “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” written in graffiti lettering across the back.
The First Lady was still wearing the jacket, even after she was criticized, to fly back to D.C. following her tour.
Mrs. Trump toured two facilities run by the Department of Homeland Security during her trip to McAllen: the Ursula Border Patrol Processing Center, a Customs and Border Patrol intake center, and Upbring New Hope Children’s Shelter, a Health and Human Services grantee facility that currently houses about 60 kids (ages 5-17, though mostly teens) from Honduras and El Salvador.
Her visit comes on the heels of her husband, President Donald Trump’s, decision to reverse his administration’s policy to separate children from their detained parents who crossed the border seeking asylum. Thousands of children remain separated from their families, many in different states, with no clear plan to reunite them.
Many Twitter users were quick to call out Mrs. Trump’s jacket as tone deaf, with some suggested that she may even be “trolling” her husband.
RELATED PHOTOS: Melania Trump’s Most Controversial Fashion Moments
Melania Trump jacket that says “I don’t really care, do you?” $39
Cost to taxpayers to fly her to Texas: $200,000#BlueWave in Congress and statehouses in November: Priceless
VOTE https://t.co/eIefAbBQQw— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) June 21, 2018
Melania must be trolling or gaslighting Trump. This is her message to us that he doesn't care. She wore a pussybow blouse at debate after "grab 'me by the" tape. Jacket is real. OMG!
— Helen Ehrenhofer (@helenehrenhofer) June 21, 2018
This is on purpose. She has stylists. This is not Melania running out the door "oh let me grab a jacket." It's a photo op for Trump's base. It is a big ????to those who are steeped in outrage over the internment camps. It is a wink to the bigots who support Trump. It is hateful.
— nadinevanderVelde (@nadinevdVelde) June 21, 2018
The First Lady’s communications director, Stephanie Grisham, said the jacket was just a jacket and there was no hidden meaning behind it.
“Today’s visit w the children in Texas impacted @flotus greatly. If media would spend their time & energy on her actions & efforts to help kids – rather than speculate & focus on her wardrobe – we could get so much accomplished on behalf of children. #SheCares #ItsJustAJacket,” Grisham tweeted.
Her husband, however, said there was indeed a meaning behind the jacket and it was aimed at the media.
““I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” written on the back of Melania’s jacket, refers to the Fake News Media. Melania has learned how dishonest they are, and she truly no longer cares!” Trump tweeted.
“I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” written on the back of Melania’s jacket, refers to the Fake News Media. Melania has learned how dishonest they are, and she truly no longer cares!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2018
Grisham said that Mrs. Trump’s tour was because she “wanted see everything for herself,” adding that she wanted to “see these children and she wants to help children. … She wants to see what’s real. She wants to see a realistic view.”
“She supports family reunification,” Grisham added. “She thinks that it’s important that children stay with their families. … She’s seen the images. She’s heard the recordings… She was on top of the situation before any of that came out. She was concerned about it. … The images struck her, as a mother, as a human being.”
Mrs. Trump spent time speaking with facility members and doctors employed by the shelter and observing the facilities before saying to the children, “Bye. Good luck” as she exited.
