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Melania Trump Responds To Helmet Flap: 'Focus On What I Do, Not What I Wear'

The first lady was criticised for wearing a pith helmet on her Africa trip that evoked the continent’s colonial past.

Melania Trump urged the public to "focus on what I do, not what I wear" after getting heat for her clothing choices on her trip to Africa.

The first lady and former model attempted to deflect criticism at a press conference in Egypt on Saturday after she wore a white, colonial-era pith helmet during a safari in Kenya. Such helmets were worn by Europeans in African colonies.

Trump seemed to snap when asked by reporters about the chosen headgear.

First lady Melania Trump waves as she visits Nairobi National Park on Saturday. Her decision to wear a white pith helmet drew criticism on social media.
SAUL LOEB via Getty Images
First lady Melania Trump waves as she visits Nairobi National Park on Saturday. Her decision to wear a white pith helmet drew criticism on social media.

"You know what? We just completed an amazing trip. We went to Ghana. We went to Malawi. We went to Kenya. Now here we are in Egypt. I want to talk about my trip and not what I wear. That's very important, what I do, what we're doing with USAID, my initiatives, and I wish people would focus on what I do, not what I wear," she said.

She wore another attention-grabbing outfit in Egypt, consisting of a beige trouser suit, black tie and a fedora-style hat, that also drew plenty of comments on social media. That ensemble was compared to one worn in Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" video and to the fictional globe-trotting characters Carmen Sandiego and Indiana Jones.

The first lady is, of course, no stranger to public commentary on her choice of dress.

Prior to her Africa trip, Trump was widely criticized for wearing a jacket reading "I really don't care, do u?" while heading to meet with detained migrant children in Texas.

In September, she was also lampooned for wearing Louboutin heels while gardening outside the White House.

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