Melania Trump Has Made Some Controversial Decisions

First Lady Melania Trump (née Knavs), is a bit of an enigma amongst the masses. The Slovenian-born brunette made quite the stir when she assumed the role of FLOTUS in 2017 — after all, she's never come from a political background. "She had the least preparation of any First Lady in our history with the possible exception of Martha Washington," explained Cokie Roberts, a political commentator for ABC News, in the network's documentary about Trump. No, the former model, instead, is a far cry from the cardigan-and-pearl-wearing first ladies before her — with even her fashion choices sometimes stirring up controversy.

While Ms. Trump is known to remain stoic (unlike her frequently temperamental husband President Donald Trump), her quiet demeanor has been a topic of countless conversations and numerous essays and books. Time has called her a "reluctant first lady," while Us Weekly was bolder and dubbed her "miserable" in the White House role, with Trump family friend Phillip Bloch revealing that "This life wasn't her dream. It was Donald's."

While debates over the FLOTUS' unhappiness are certainly all hearsay, it's not the only stir that Melania created. We've rounded up those controversies — from Melania's time as a model to her sometimes-provocative role as the wife of the leader of the free world. 

It was a fashion blunder with a controversial statement heard loud and clear throughout the world. 

In 2018, the Trump administration passed a severe immigration policy towards the U.S. southern border, separating families who illegally crossed into the country. As U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered in April (via NPR), prosecutors were to "adopt immediately a zero-tolerance policy" for anyone disobeying this law — even minors. The public reaction? A "widespread outcry." Per The New York Times, in June, Melania Trump's visit to a Texas border town to meet with "detained immigrant children" was overshadowed by her decision to wear a jacket with the words, "I don't really care, do u?" painted on the back. While the outlet notes that "Mrs. Trump did not wear it while visiting with the children," she did wear it "upon her return to the capital, in full view of the news photographers." Uh-oh.

While the incident could be chalked up to, well, ignorance, it's bizarre to imagine that not a single soul from FLOTUS' team stopped the blunder from happening. What's more, as Bob Phibbs, the chief executive of the Retail Doctor, a consultancy in New York, put it to the Times, "Fashion is not by accident with this woman. She's a former model. Every piece of clothing has statement and purpose. She's all about image, and so is Trump. She knows the power."

Lying about something is pretty shady, yet lying about something as significant as obtaining a university degree when you're a public figure? That's definitely controversial. While many have been quick to dismiss Melania Trump as a vapid model, she's had people vouching for her hard work ethic and intelligence. "I can put my hand in the fire to prove that she was a very intelligent student with a high IQ," revealed Blaz Vogelnik, Trump's architecture professor at the University of Ljubljana, to the Daily Beast.

Well, it looks like having someone vouch for you wasn't enough for Ms. Trump, and according to NBC, up until July 2016, the FLOTUS' "personal site said she obtained a degree in design and architecture at an unspecified university in Slovenia, her country of birth." Hmm, well, did she?

Of course, once critics found the controversial statement, evidence came up that it, in fact, wasn't true. "She hasn't finished university, at least not in Ljubljana," Vogelnik told NBC, adding, "My personal opinion is that, because she was a very beautiful girl ... I believe that she realized that she could gain more with that, than to have long studies." Sure enough, the blurb was eventually taken down from Trump's website, and her official White House biography page said nothing about her education.

This one can perhaps be chalked up to a coincidence, yet it's still a decision that Melania Trump made that was met with a mountain of controversy. In 2016, while Donald Trump was still the Republican presidential candidate, The Washington Post published a recorded conversation from a 2005 Access Hollywood appearance, in which Trump said, among other offensive things, the now infamous phrase, "grab them by the pu**y." Of course, the criticism poured in, eventually leading Trump to issue a short video statement, saying, "I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize." 

How did Melania feel about it? She told CNN's Anderson Cooper that the "language was inappropriate," but defended her husband, and shrugging it off as "boy talk." She also made her own controversial statement. During the second presidential debate in October 2016, the former model was seen donning matching fuchsia pants and a so-called "pussy-bow blouse" (shown above). As Vanity Fair notes, "that's the name of this style of blouse with a bow tied at the neck, named after the ones frequently tied around cats' necks." Naturally, the internet went wild. As the mag notes, "Some viewers took Trump's shirt-style choice as a silent way of commenting on the audio" released. Was it?

While Sopan Deb of CBS News said in a since-deleted tweet (via Vanity Fair), "Campaign spokeswoman says this was not intentional," it wouldn't be the first time the public has accused Melania of subliminal messaging by way of her sartorial choices.

While Donald Trump was still just a Republican presidential candidate in 2016, his wife, Melania Trump, made waves for a speech she gave that July at the Republican National Convention. According to the BBC, "her speech, which brought the convention to its feet, had themes of inclusivity, honesty and hard work," suddenly took on a different meaning — as it directly contradicted the ideas it was intending to enlist. As Twitter users initially noticed (via USA Today), Melania's speech "was remarkably similar to a passage from first lady Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention eight years earlier." Uh-oh.

While the public went wild comparing the speeches (CNN even uploaded a video of the two women speaking side by side), the Trump campaign issued a statement by way of senior communications adviser, Jason Miller (via USA Today). "In writing her beautiful speech, Melania's team of writers took notes on her life's inspirations, and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking," adding that "Melania's immigrant experience and love for America shone through in her speech, which made it such success." Hmm.

While the speech was created by the FLOTUS' writing team, Melania was ultimately the one who delivered it, so the controversy landed on her shoulders. Whether she knew how similar it was to Obama's remarks is anyone's guess. Remarkably, no one was fired for this political blunder.

In October 2016, while her husband was still running for president, Melania Trump discussed social media during an interview with CNN's, Anderson Cooper. "Social media is very damaging to the children ... I see more and more children being hurt by it." By 2018, she had launched her Be Best campaign, a White House initiative that focuses on helping children by way of "three main pillars," one being — you guessed it — online safety.

What critics found ironic, however, is that the FLOTUS' campaign seemed to be a direct contradiction to Donald Trump's countless offensive tweets. Cooper even asked Melania in that memorable CNN interview, "Do you tell Mr. Trump to not tweet so much?" Her response? "Yes, but that's his decision, he's an adult. He knows the consequences. I give him [a lot of advice] ... sometimes he listens, sometimes he doesn't."

Of course, many skeptics have spoken out since the FLOTUS launched her campaign, such as The Guardian, which dubbed it "doomed by her husband's belligerence." In fact, even Melania isn't oblivious to the critics. "It is not news or surprising to me that critics and the media have chosen to ridicule me for speaking out on this issue," she revealed during a conference in 2018 (via ABC News). "I hope that, like I do, you will consider using their negative words as motivation to do all you can to bring awareness and understanding about responsible online behavior."