On April 14, Melania Trump, the first lady, welcomed King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands on the White House steps. The event was meant to be an official one, but it led her fans to dissect the messaging of her dress.
Melania donned a white A-line dress from ERDEM’s 2025 autumn/winter collection that had dramatic black flower appliqués. Donald Trump came wearing his usual purple tie and blue suit. The spotlight thus revolved around the 55-year-old’s quilted, textured dress, even though Queen Máxima was fashionably draped in a burnt orange outfit.
One user questioned, “Is she wearing a used bedspread?” “What the hell is Melania wearing?” added another. Another person replied, “Not sure what’s wrong with [her] legs. Is she trying to insult them [as] they did with Zelensky?”
Some viewers were reminded of the redacted portions of the Epstein files by her dress’s prominent black floral design. One user said, “Melania wearing redacted files again,” and the theory gained traction. Also, people were already aware of how to look for coded messages in Melania’s outfits at Trump’s inauguration, thanks to her white gown with a black panel running down the front.
Meanwhile, Melania has publicly removed herself from the Epstein files, which include references to both her and Donald Trump. The president, on the other hand, defended his wife while saying he was taken aback by her sudden press conference. People felt that there was always more going on after the speech, so they started looking for it in what she was wearing.
During a Cabinet meeting at around the same time, the president gave an unplanned speech about Sharpie markers.
On top of that, he claimed that a Sharpie executive offered to customize a marker for him. As a result, a social media user commented, “[His wife’s] dress looks like someone scribbled on it with Trump’s Sharpie.”
Melania attended a House Ways and Means Committee hearing while her dress was being scrutinized online. This year, foster care has been her primary focus. She was there to back a set of six bipartisan bills that would revamp the Chafee Foster Care Program, which in turn would give more than $140 million a year to help young people as they move out of the system.
The Imprint reports that the first lady was seated between a Democratic congressman and a Republican committee chair, and referred to new foster care legislation as “a moral imperative.” The Foster Youth Housing Opportunity Act and the CONNECT Act can help the nearly 16,000 youth who age out of foster care each year without any safety net.