The first lady, Melania Trump, presented her black and white 2025 inaugural gown to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History on Friday morning, saying that it showcased “America’s pure spirit of originality, superior engineering and boundless creativity.”
At a short and decorous event on Friday morning at the museum, the dress joined an exhibit of gowns belonging to first ladies stretching back to Helen Taft in 1909. The museum normally collects gowns worn to a president’s first inauguration. But because President Trump was elected to nonconsecutive terms, Mrs. Trump will have two gowns in the collection.
Standing a few feet away from her latest inaugural dress, Mrs. Trump, wearing a black jacket and knee-high boots, delivered brief remarks about how high fashion reflected humanity.
“This is not a dress,” she said, describing it instead as a reflection of “more than 50 years of education, experience and wisdom realized with each thread, each stitch, each sharp edge.”
The Z shape on the front of the dress, she added, symbolized “decades of my early memories, life experiences and influences.”
The addition of Mrs. Trump’s second gown comes amid a self-promotional blitz, including for her self-produced documentary, “Melania,” which premiered late last month after Amazon purchased and marketed it for $75 million.
Mrs. Trump’s husband has also worked to leave more of an imprint on museums in the capital.
This month, the White House suggested that the Smithsonian add a special Trump display. In early January, the administration ramped up pressure on the institution to comply with an executive order calling on the Smithsonian to put a more positive spin on U.S. history. Federal officials are scrubbing museum content for “improper ideology.”
The event at the National Museum of American History steered clear of politics. At one point, Anthea M. Hartig, the museum’s director, mentioned some state first ladies in the audience, a recognition that coincided with a meeting Mr. Trump was holding with governors at the White House a few blocks away.
Mrs. Trump, a Slovenian-born former model, has made waves with her fashion choices since Mr. Trump’s first inauguration in 2017, when she sported an “America First” inaugural wardrobe.
During Mr. Trump’s second swearing-in ceremony, she drew attention when she did not take off her wide-brimmed hat, making it difficult for the president to kiss her cheek.
At the end of the ceremony on Friday, the dress, along with a replica of the diamond brooch she wore pinned to a black ribbon as a choker, was wheeled upstairs to the exhibition space. There, the gown joined Mary Todd Lincoln’s purple velvet ensemble and Jacqueline Kennedy’s yellow state dinner dress. Mrs. Trump’s 2017 inaugural gown was already in place.
“Each first lady reflects the time in which she served,” said Lonnie G. Bunch III, the Smithsonian’s secretary. “In essence, each gown we have is a window on America.”
Mrs. Trump, picking up on that theme, said that her dress “speaks with a distinct point of view — a modern silhouette, bold and dignified, and ruthlessly chic.”
Adam Sella covers breaking news for The Times in Washington.
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