Melania Trump reignites anger over 'I don't really care' jacket: 'It was kind of a message'

Abby Haglage
First Lady Melania Trump departs Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland June 21, 2018, wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words “I really don’t care, do you?” This week, she backtracked on a previous claim that the jacket had no hidden message, saying it was meant for the “left-wing media.” (Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP)
First Lady Melania Trump departs Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland June 21, 2018, wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words “I really don’t care, do you?” This week, she backtracked on a previous claim that the jacket had no hidden message, saying it was meant for the “left-wing media.” (Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP)

Fours months after Melania Trump caused an uproar by wearing the now-notorious “I don’t really care, do u?” jacket, the army green outwear is back in the news. This time, it’s intentional.

The reveal came during an ABC News exclusive titled Being Melania, in which Tom Llamas asked Trump what “compelled” her to wear the jacket on a trip to visit migrant children in detention centers — a move the internet called “distasteful” and “unbelievable.” At the time, Trump’s communications director denied claims that the jacket had a “hidden message.” Now, the first lady is saying otherwise.

“It was for the people and for the left-wing media who are criticizing me,” Trump told ABC of the Zara jacket. “And I wanna show them that I don’t care. You could criticize whatever you wanna say, but it will not stop me to do what I feel is right.” Trump was quick to clarify that she wasn’t trying to direct the sentiment toward the children she was visiting, nor toward the issue of detention. “It’s obvious I didn’t wear the jacket for the children,” she continued. “I wore the jacket to go on the plane and off the plane.”

She did, however, admit to playing to the internet’s fixation on it. “After the visit I put it back on because I see how media got obsessed about it,” she said. Trump ended the segment saying she wished that the media would turn their attention to the issues. “It — it was kind of a message, yes,” she said. “I would prefer that they would focus on what I do and on my initiatives than what I wear.”

While the first lady’s own spokesperson at the time denied that the jacket hid a meaning, there was one person who seemed to suggest that the jacket’s message was more than just an accident: the president himself. In a tweet from June 21, President Trump said that the jacket was a sign that she “truly no longer cares” about the “dishonest” media.

The first lady’s reveal — although likely not surprising to some — did draw reactions from reporters on Twitter. But if we’ve learned anything from the ABC interview it’s this: She really doesn’t care.

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