Even acquaintances of the Trump family are currently shaking their heads: The former First Lady of the USA, Melania Trump (51) is currently auctioning off one of her old hats for a quarter of a million dollars, as reported by CNN. She is the first First Lady to sell clothes from her tenure for personal profit.
For 250,000 US dollars, Melania enthusiasts can bid for the white hat that she wore during the state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to the White House. On top of that, potentially interested parties will also receive an NFT (non-fungible token) of a watercolor painting of their side profile. The whole thing should also be paid for in cryptocurrency.
Melania is “a Trump through and through!”
An acquaintance of Melania said moderately on the station: “It’s just not right”. Other ex-employees of the Trump administration did not mince their words. They described Melania’s new source of income as “greedy” and “shameless”. The rumors about an impending separation are also getting louder again: “Apparently she wants to earn her own money and be financially independent of Donald.”
Kate Andersen Brown, author of a book about the first ladies, was also very critical: “This auction devalues the first lady position. It shows: Melania is a Trump through and through – without shame! » She has the feeling that the reactions from the public to Melania would simply bounce off.
The accompanying portrait was painted by the French artist Marc-Antoine Coulon. He already designed pictures of her eyes for the first auction on Melania’s website. Under the motto “Melania’s vision,” she fetched $150 per digital painting at NFT auctions on December 31. Part of the proceeds are intended to benefit foster children, but Melania has so far not responded to repeated media inquiries about the amount of donations.
Jacket and shoes were already causing a stir
Mark Updegrove of the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library told CNN, “While it is their right to sell the hat, in the interest of preserving history, First Ladies usually donate such pieces to museums and presidential libraries.”
Other observers such as John Reznikoff, auction appraiser for historical valuables, were amazed at the starting price of the hat auction. The $ 250,000 seemed very high to him, he told the television station. Jackie Kennedy’s gloves sold for just $2,400. The main difference to Melania is here: “Jackie Kennedy was extremely popular and for decades a style icon.”
It’s not the first time Melania has caused a stir with her clothes. There is already speculation in the US media about which items of clothing will be auctioned off next: For example the notorious “I really don’t care, do u?” jacket that she wore when she visited a child refugee home on the Mexican border? Or rather the Manolo Blahnik heels with which she strutted through the devastated state of Texas after Hurricane Harvey? (chs)