Melania Trump signed a bill into law alongside her husband Donald in an unprecedented move for a first lady.
She touted her first major legislative success on Monday when she joined Trump in signing the Take It Down Act into law.
It’s unusual for a first lady to add her signature to a bill becoming law, but Melania championed the legislation that increases protection for victims of revenge porn, and met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to lobby for its passage.
Trump encouraged his wife to sign it, handing over the binder featuring the legislation and telling her to go ahead. She smiled as she picked up a white pen to sign her name underneath his.
He also raised his wife’s work on the issue.
‘Honey, you’ve done amazing,’ he said, adding that when he heard of the legislation: ‘I said, it sounds like a tough one, and yet a very important one, and you got it done. So I congratulate you.’
And he noted when he talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier Monday: ‘Putin just said they respect your wife a lot. I said, ‘What about me?’ They like Melania better.’
In an unusual move, first lady Melania Trump (right) signed the Take It Down Act alongside President Donald Trump (right) in the Rose Garden on Monday
First lady Melania Trump (right) spoke at a bill signing Monday for the ‘Take it Down Act,’ something she lobbied for on Capitol Hill earlier this year
Melania spoke first at the Rose Garden signing ceremony. It was a rare appearance for her at a White House event.
She called the legislation a ‘national victory that will help parents and families protect children from online exploitation.’
‘This legislation is a powerful step forward in our efforts to ensure that every American, especially young people, can feel better protected from their image or identity being abused,’ she continued.
And she criticized artificial intelligence and social media, calling it the ‘digital candy for the next generation.’
‘Sweet, addictive and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children,’ the first lady explained. ‘But unlike sugar, this new technologies can be weaponized, shape beliefs and sadly affect emotions and even be deadly.’
The bill had the support of both Republicans and Democrats and the first lady cheered its bipartisan nature.
‘Thank you all for coming together to prioritize people over politics,’ she said.
In March, Melania hosted women impacted by revenge porn in her box at the president’s joint address before Congress.
Two of those women, Francesca Mani and Elliston Berry, were in the Rose Garden audience on Monday.
The president called attention to Berry and Mani when he took Melania’s place at the podium.
He also gave shout-outs to the bill sponsors – Republicans Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Maria Salazar – and praised the bipartisan nature of the legislation.
‘I’m not even sure you realize, honey, you know a lot of the Democrats and Republicans don’t get along,’ Trump told Melania.
Other Rose Garden attendees included Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, Administrator of the Small Business Administration Kelly Loeffler, South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
Melania Trump will continue to work on issues affecting children, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, praising her work on the bill.
‘The First Lady met with members in the House and the Senate survivors and their families throughout the process to get this bill across the finish line. We are grateful for the First Lady’s hard work and dedication to this issue, and moving forward, she will continue to champion the well-being of our nation’s children through her Be Best agenda,’ Leavitt said.
President Donald Trump shows off his signature – and first lady Melania Trump’s – as he wraps up a signing ceremony on Monday for the ‘Take It Down Act’
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump hold hands as they enter a Rose Garden event for the ‘Take it Down Act’
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is seen wearing a pair of reflective sunglasses at the ‘Take It Down Act’ signing ceremony on Monday in the Rose Garden
Attorney General Pam Bondi (center) greets Interior Secretary Doug Burgum (left) as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (right) looks for her seat at the Rose Garden ceremony
FBI Director Kash Patel (left), Small Business Administration Kelly Loeffler (center) and VA Secretary Doug Collins (right) attended the signing ceremony Monday for the ‘Take It Down Act’
The first lady revived her Be Best campaign, which focuses on the welfare of children, when she returned to the White House in January.
The Take It Down Act is its first major success story of her second term as first lady.
The act increases protections for victims of non-consensual sharing of sexual images known as ‘revenge pornography’ and that includes content generated by artificial intelligence, also known as deepfake porn.
It also requires websites to make a reasonable effort to take down the images within 48 hours of a complaint being filed.
Melania Trump made a rare trip to Capitol Hill in March to lobby for the bill. She joined Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, its sponsor, at a roundtable to promote the legislation.
Melania Trump arrives in the Capitol in March to lobby for the Take It Down Act
Melania Trump shakes hands with Elliston Berry as Francesca Mani (left) checks her testimony
One of the victims at that event later joined Melania Trump in her box when the president made a Joint Session of Congress.
Berry, 15, testified about the dangers of deepfake porn.
She said she was just 14 when a classmate used AI to edit a photo from social media into a nude photo with her head attached to it.
‘I was 14 years old when I was violated all over social media,’ she said.
‘I came here today to not only promote this bill but to fight for the many survivors. It is so inspiring to know that my voice is being heard, giving hope to not only me, to all the many people that have been affected by this. It is truly so amazing how this awful situation has turned to good,’ she added.
