Melania Trump boarded an Air Force jet to McAllen, Texas, wearing a green jacket saying, “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” Whether she was speaking about this visit to see immigrant children, some locked away due to her husband’s policy. Or her role as First Lady in the reality show that is her life. It hardly matters. Melania Trump doesn’t care anymore. Perhaps she hasn’t for a long time?
She doesn’t go on trips where FLOTUS might be expected to appear. She slaps away her husband’s hand when he reaches for hers. She sleeps in a separate bedroom from her husband and pointedly rebuked Rudy Guliani when he suggested she “believed her husband” regarding the porn stars and Playmate’s that have dominated the news.
The problem with her no longer giving a shit, when representing a President we know doesn’t give a shit, is that her visit carries no weight. Zero-Tolerance has not gone away. Trump’s recent executive order only says that new families apprehended will be kept together while the US prosecutes 100% of families, even moving them to the front of the line for deportation. They will be held mostly on Air Force bases in new tent cities, where the press will not be allowed to document the care and conditions.
The Executive Order contained no provisions to reunite the 2,300 kids that have already been separated from their parents. Some of whom may never be returned to their parents. Since then, Trump has mumbled some words suggesting reunifications will take place, but they are only words, Trump words at that which carry even less weight. There is no policy or process to restore the families that have been torn asunder by Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions, and Kirstjen Nielsen.
This is not the time to claim victory and ignore what happens next. The pressure that got Trump to make what may ultimately be a subtle change, must continue if true victory is to be won. If you are waiting for the kindler, gentler voices in Trump’s sphere to make a difference? Ivanka has problems of her own and Melania has told the world, “I really don’t care!”
