Meryl Streep is out promoting ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’, but one sharp comment about Melania Trump may end up getting just as much attention as the sequel itself.
During a joint Vogue conversation with Anna Wintour, moderated by Greta Gerwig, the Oscar winner veered from fashion theory into political memory and zeroed in on one of Melania Trump’s most infamous style moments. The result was a pointed jab that instantly gave the glossy promo a harder edge.
Streep, 76, was discussing how women in power use clothing to present themselves when Wintour noted that powerful women do not need to dress like men to project authority. Wintour mentioned several public figures, then added, “To be fair, Melania Trump also always looks like herself when she dresses.”
Meryl Streep Brings Back Melania’s Most Controversial Jacket
“I have so many thoughts about this,” Streep said, before going straight to the look that still follows Melania years later. “I think the most… powerful message that our current first lady sent was in the coat that said ‘I Really Don’t Care, Do U?’ when she was going to see migrant children who were incarcerated.”
That line hit hard because it revived one of the most talked-about fashion scandals of Donald Trump’s first term. In June 2018, Melania wore the Zara jacket while heading to a Texas facility housing migrant children during the administration’s family separation crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. Critics quickly called the message cold, tone-deaf, and impossible to ignore.
Streep did not stop there. She widened the point beyond Melania and into how women are expected to package power in public. “All dress is about expressing yourself, but we’re also subject to larger historical and political sweeps of expectation,” she said. “I’m stunned at how women in power have to have bare arms on television while men are covered in shirts and ties or a suit. There’s an apology built into women. They have to show their smallness.”
Why the Comment Matters During ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ Buzz
The timing is part of what makes the remark so juicy. Streep was not on a political panel. She was promoting ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ in a high-profile Vogue feature alongside Wintour, the editor long seen as the real-world inspiration for Miranda Priestly. That made the Melania detour feel less like a random aside and more like Streep reminding everyone that fashion is never just fashion.
Melania, of course, has defended the jacket for years. At the time, she said the slogan was not aimed at the children and insisted it was directed at “the people and for the left-wing media who are criticizing me.” In an ABC News interview, she added, “I want to show them that I don’t care. You could criticize whatever you want to say, but it will not stop me to do what I feel is right.”
She revisited the episode again in her 2024 memoir ‘Melania’, calling the backlash “just another example of the media’s irresponsible behavior.” She wrote that the move was meant to show critics “that their criticism would never stop me from doing what I feel is right,” and described the jacket choice as “discreet yet impactful.”
Discreet is not the word most people would use. And now, thanks to Streep, that coat is back in the conversation just as ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ starts building real heat.
