Melania Trump stunned the crowd on Capitol Hill Tuesday night when she entered the House chamber to a standing ovation.
The first lady was wearing a dark gray Dior skirt suit with a belted jacket. She wore a scarf and her signature stiletto heels.
She departed the White House alongside President Donald Trump and accompanied him in the Beast for the brief journey to Capitol Hill. The pair emerged from the White House hand in hand, with Trump holding onto her, prompting the first lady to gently pull away in order to enter the other side of the presidential limousine.
In attendance were her stepchildren: Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner, Don Jr. with girlfriend Bettina Anderson, Eric and Lara Trump, as well as Tiffany Trump and husband Michael Boulos.
Also present at the event are her father Viktor Knavs, and Usha Vance, the second lady, who occupied a seat in the first lady’s box. Sitting next to Melania was fifteen-year-old Elliston Berry, a victim of deep fake pornography.
The first couple’s son Barron, 18, is a freshman at New York University and has class this week so did not attend the speech.
Melania Trump has been in a power suit mode of late.
When she was on Capitol Hill Monday for an event tied to her Be Best initiative, she wore a three-piece brown Ralph Lauren pants suit with a crisp white shirt and dark tie.
In her official portrait as first lady, she wore a black pants suit by Dolce & Gabbana. And, at formal dinner at the White House last weekend for the nation’s governors, she wore a Dolce & Gabbana tuxedo black blazer with satin lapels and tapered black pants.
These past two weeks marked a return to the public eye for the first lady, who spent most of the first month of her second tenure in New York with Barron.
She’s been focused on wrapping up filming for her documentary that will air on Amazon this fall. And she’s been working on her private business initiatives, including her own crypto-currency.
But on Monday she was in the Capitol to relaunch her Be Best campaign. She joined lawmakers in speaking out against revenge porn and deep fakes generated by AI.
In her speech, she slammed Democrats for their lack of support on the issue.
‘I expected to see more Democrat leaders with us here today to address this serious issue. Surely as adults, we can prioritize America’s children ahead of partisan politics,’ she said.
Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California was the only Democratic lawmaker at the event, which took place in the U.S. Capitol building. Republican Senator Ted Cruz hosted the event, in which lawmakers expressed support for his Take It Down Act.
Meanwhile, the guests in her box range from families of victims of illegal immigrant crime to a former hostage in Russia and other ‘everyday Americans’ plagued by plights President Trump has vowed to fix over the next four years in Washington.
Notably, the family of Corey Comperatore will sit in the first lady’s guest box at the Capitol. Helen Comperatore and her two daughters Allyson and Kaylee are the widow and children of the firefighter who died after he was shot by would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks at Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania rally in July.
Fifteen-year-old Elliston Berry from Aledo, Texas was the victim of deepfake bullying. Her attendance as a guest of Melania Trump’s is meant to bring awareness to the rise of these attacks using AI image generations.
Laken Riley’s mother Allyson and sister Lauren are also special guests of Melania for the president’s remarks.
Riley was a 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia who was murdered by an illegal immigrant during a morning run. The murderer was apprehended for illegally crossing the border but was released into the country under former President Joe Biden’s lax migrant policies.
Underscoring the importance of addressing the border crisis, the first lady is also bringing as a guest Houston, Texas native Alexis Nungaray, the mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn, who was murdered by two illegal immigrants during a walk to the store in her hometown.
These two individuals were also apprehended and released into the U.S. by Biden’s administration just weeks before they murdered Jocelyn.
Additionally, Roberto Ortiz from Weslaco, Texas is joining the box after he was shot multiple times by cartel members while performing his Border Patrol duties near the Rio Grande River.
