Hollywood veteran Meryl Streep is really into her role when it comes to fashion, and particularly as related to what Melania Trump wears. She recalled some of the First Lady’s fashion choices while speaking with former Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
In the interview, Meryl slammed Melania for her fashion sense ahead of the release of The Devil Wears Prada 2. In the movie, Streep, 76, reprises her role as magazine editor Miranda Priestly, a character who is loosely based on Wintour.
The promotion for The Devil Wears Prada 2 has been top notch, so far. First the much viewed award presentation with Anne Hathaway at the Oscars and now:
Dame Anna Wintour and Meryl Streep Vogueing together! pic.twitter.com/U3OpuUrnLe
— It’s a lawyer’s life (@itsalawyerslife) April 7, 2026
Meanwhile, filmmaker Greta Gerwig moderated the chat while asking both ladies about style. She said, “dressing has always been more nebulous” for women than men. In response, Anna said her view is that a woman doesn’t have to wear a suit to be powerful, while referencing political female figures like Michelle Obama, and artist and wife of New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, Rama Duwaji.
anna wintour and meryl streep on the cover of vogue’s may 2026 ‘seeing double’ issue, photographed by annie leibovitz pic.twitter.com/oxL5rzk3BE
— ❦ (@saintdoII) April 7, 2026
As reported by USA Today, it was at that point in the chat that Melania Trump and her fashion choices came up. “To be fair, Melania Trump also always looks like herself when she dresses,” said Anna. In response, Meryl took the opportunity to offer her scathing opinion on one of the first lady’s most controversial looks – the jacket she wore in 2018, bearing the words, “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” emblazoned on the back.
During the chat, the Only Murders in the Building star said, “I have so many thoughts about this. 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. All dress is about expressing yourself, but we’re also subject to larger historical and political sweeps of expectation.”
“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,” Streep added.
At the time that Melania Trump wore the jacket from Zara, it caused an uproar on social media. She was photographed while stepping off a plane to visit Upbring New Hope Children’s Center in June 2018.
Meanwhile, the jacket went viral as President Donald Trump had recently introduced a hard-line immigration policy that led to hundreds of children being separated from their parents. Social media users felt that the wording on the Zara jacket was in poor taste.
The jacket controversy was addressed by the first lady in her 2024 memoir, “Melania,” where she said the backlash was “just another example of the media’s irresponsible behavior.”
“I was determined not to let the media’s false narratives affect my mission to help the children and families at the border. In fact, I decided to let them know that their criticism would never stop me from doing what I feel is right. To make the point, I wore a particular jacket as I boarded the plane, a jacket that quickly became famous,” Melania wrote.
