Melania’s ‘I really don’t care, do u?’ triggers social uproar

Houston, June 22 

Melania Trump wanted to show the world that she was a compassionate first lady by visiting a migrant child detention centre in Texas but her insensitive choice of a jacket during the trip has caused an uproar on social media.

As she boarded a plane, she wore an olive green jacket, which said on the back: “I really don’t care. Do U?” in white graffiti-style lettering. 

Melania, 48, was not wearing the branded Zara jacket when she landed in McAllen, Texas yesterday on a visit to personally witness the humanitarian situation along the US-Mexico border that has captured global attention.

Under President Donald Trump’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy, nearly 2,000 children have been separated from their parents and placed into holding facilities between April 19 and May 31 of this year, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The public outcry in the wake of images and stories of the children caught in the middle of Trump’s controversial immigration policy has sparked a fierce global debate. 

Hours after the photo of her departure outfit went viral, the First Lady again donned the jacket to disembark from the plane at an Air Force base outside Washington DC. She ignored questions from reporters as she entered the presidential motorcade.

Responding to the social media criticism, her spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said “there was no hidden message” in the former fashion model’s sartorial choice.

“It’s a jacket. There was no hidden message. After today’s important visit to Texas, I hope the media isn’t going to choose to focus on her wardrobe,” Grisham said.

President Trump, in an apparent attempt to deflect the criticism over his wife’s attire, tweeted that the jacket Melania wore “refers to the Fake News Media”.

Melania made the previously unannounced visit to the detention centre, saying she wanted to help reunited migrant children. Herself an immigrant, Melania, who was born in Slovenia, had earlier this week urged Trump that she “hates to see children separated from their families”. — PTI

Trump urges Republican lawmakers to drop immigration effort

• US President Donald Trump urged Republican lawmakers on Friday to drop their efforts to pass comprehensive immigration legislation until after the November elections, which he hoped would bring more party members into Congress
• Despite Republican control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the party’s slim 51-49 majority in the latter chamber makes some Democratic support necessary to pass most legislation
• “Elect more Republicans in November and we will pass the finest, fairest and most comprehensive Immigration Bills anywhere in the world,” Trump said on Twitter