Melania Trump added her signature as husband Donald signed a bill into law that she strongly campaigned for. 

It was an unprecedented move for a first lady and one that showed Melania’s ownership of the cause.

The new Take It Down Act provides protections for victims of revenge porn and it marked her first major legislative success.  

It’s highly unusual for a first lady to sign a bill into law since it’s typically the president’s duty. However, Melania Trump took the step as she had been actively supporting the legislation and engaging with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to advocate for it.

After the bill was signed in the Rose Garden on Monday, President Trump handed over the binder containing the law to Melania and encouraged her to sign it too. Melania, visibly pleased, used a white pen to add her signature below her husband’s.

The president also praised his wife’s work on the issue. 

‘Honey, you’ve done amazing,’ President Trump praised her, acknowledging the complexity and significance of the legislation. He congratulated her on successfully accomplishing the task.

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.’

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.

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. 

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.