At a time when high-net worth women, including Lauren Sánchez and Kim Kardashian, proudly display their womanly-coded curves, Melania Trump is covering hers. This week, Trump showed up at the Capitol in a three-piece man-tailored tan suit to speak in support of a bill that would safeguard children from, as she put it without irony, “mean-spirited and hurtful online behavior.”
Cross-dressing has long been in Trump’s fashion quiver, but she seems to be reaching for that arrow more and more. In the past the first lady has acknowledged wearing clothing to send a message, so what’s the message here?
First and foremost, Trump’s suits signal that she is not a trad wife. Donald isn’t the only one wearing pants in the family…and hers fit better. Here are seven other possible messages Trump’s wardrobe choices might be sending.
- I’M A LITERARY TITAN!
Trump’s memoir hit the top of The New York Times bestseller list which allows her to fill the spats of notable French memoirist George Sand. In the mid-19th century, Sand had to petition the Paris police to wear trousers in public. No word if Trump requires permission to wear hers.
- I’M KOOKY!
Diane Keaton pioneered the slouchy boho mannish look in “Annie Hall.” Trump channels this vibe and, like Keaton, accessories the look with an alleged sexual abuser.
- I TAKE FASHION RISKS!
Fashion icon Princess Diana played with menswear in the 1980s, sporting a bowtie that was mirrored by Trump decades later.
Oh wait, the woman on the left is not Trump. It’s actually former presidential assistant Hope Hicks who testified against her former boss. This is Trump in a similar look.
- I’M AN OLD-TIMEY MALE IMPERSONATOR!
Is Trump’s official 2025 White House portrait sending a message to the LGBTQ community that she stands with them? Just add a top hat and Trump’s look connects her to generations of male impersonators.
- I’M A DISNEY PRINCESS WHO’S READY FOR BATTLE!
Mulan dressed like a man so she could fight for her people and when Trump went to visit victims of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, she chose a similar cover up.
- I’M ALL THE MAN I NEED
Trump channeled movie star Marlene Dietrich in this outfit from the first administration. Dietrich loudly denounced Nazism in her native Germany and in the late 1930s, raised funds to support refugees and help Jews and dissidents escape. Trump has done her part, too, reassuring Americans that her husband “is not Hitler.”
- I HATE DONALD TRUMP
Maybe Trump isn’t cross-dressing… maybe she’s just cross.
This week she channeled renowned Trump-hater Fran Leibowitz who once told an audience, “Everyone says he is crazy—which maybe he is—but the scarier thing about him is that he is stupid. You do not know anyone as stupid as Donald Trump. You just don’t.”
