The $39 Zara jacket worn by former US First Lady Melania Trump, bearing the inscription “I don’t care, do U?”, has reignited controversy. Initially sparking debate in 2018 during her visit to a children’s charity housing undocumented children separated from their parents, the jacket’s message was dismissed by Trump’s communications chief as merely a jacket aimed at the “Fake News.”
According to Daily Beast, Melania Trump’s choice of attire for her trip to the Upbring New Hope Children’s Shelter in Texas is brought back into the spotlight by Katie Rogers’ forthcoming book, ‘American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden’.
Contrary to Melania’s previous claims that the jacket’s message was targeted at critics from the left-wing media and not the children, the book suggests the message was intended for her stepdaughter, Ivanka Trump.
The book delves into the strained relationship between Melania and Ivanka, highlighting a prolonged “internal power struggle” that began early in Donald Trump’s presidency. This tension was exacerbated by Melania’s decision to delay moving into the White House to allow her son Barron to finish his school year in New York and her resistance to Ivanka’s efforts to refurbish the White House’s East Wing.
In a Facebook post, Internet users voiced their opinions on the controversy through social media, with comments ranging from skepticism about the jacket’s intended message to outright disbelief that it was meant for Ivanka. Some questioned the appropriateness of wearing such a jacket during a sensitive visit to the border amidst the family separation crisis, while others dismissed the explanation as spin.
Criticisms also extended to the practicality of wearing a jacket in Texas during summer, with some interpreting the message as an indication of indifference towards migrant children, regardless of the intended recipient.