Former First Lady of the US Melania Trump has once again addressed her debatable “I really don’t care, do u?” jacket in her coming memoir, revealing it was meant as a “discreet yet impactful” message to the media, not related to her visit to a migrant detention centre, according to the New York Post.
Melania, wife of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, wore the Zara jacket in 2018 during a trip to the US-Mexico border, sparking outrage and widespread speculation about its intended meaning.Many assumed the message was tied to the plight of migrant children.
However, in an excerpt from her memoir reported by ‘The Guardian‘, Melania insists the jacket was aimed at the media, claiming, “It’s a message for the media… to let them know I was unconcerned with their opinions of me.” According to her, she was advised by her then-press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, to avoid publicly explaining this intent. “I disagreed with her insistence that I couldn’t say that,” Melania wrote, adding that Grisham instead told a CNN reporter the jacket was merely a “fashion choice with no underlying message.”
Melania claims the media’s focus on the $39 jacket overshadowed the pressing issues of the time, such as the welfare of children at the border and a significant policy change. She called the media’s reaction “irresponsible behaviour.”
Grisham, who resigned in 2021 and has since become a vocal critic of the Trumps. She alleged the idea to wear the jacket came from Donald Trump himself, who said: “You just tell them you were talking to the f–king press.”