With the return of Melania Trump to the White House, we saw a return of something that the presidential residence has lacked during previous administrations: A graciousness, a style, poise and a beauty of body and spirit that's all too uncommon in political families. As first ladies do, she took on a cause, that being cyber-bullying; being married to President Trump, she has come in for no small amount of online opprobrium herself. 

But she who laughs last laughs best. Melania Trump has cause at least to smile today, as during a Rose Garden ceremony on Monday, her husband, President Donald Trump, signed the "Take It Down Act" into law. And there's a twist:

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.

For a first lady to add her signature is highly unusual - it is the president that signs bills into law - but Melania had championed the legislation and met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to lobby for it.

This was an unusual and unprecedented move, and of course, the First Lady's signature carries no legal weight; her appending her signature to the act is purely ceremonial. But it's a fitting tribute to the work she did to get the act to this point.

LIVE @POTUS & @FLOTUS in the Rose Garden for the Take It Down Act Bill Signing Ceremony. https://t.co/ONuqCumvBL

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 19, 2025

After signing the bill on Monday in the Rose Garden, Trump encouraged his wife to do so as well, handing over the binder featuring the law and telling her to go ahead. She smiled as she picked up a white pen to add her name underneath his.

The president also praised 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.'

My colleagues Bob Hoge and Susie Moore have previously reported on the Take It Down Act's progress:

See Also: Melania Trump Advocates for 'Take It Down Act' on Capitol Hill

'Take It Down': Melania Trump-Backed Cyber Bill Passes House, Heads to President's Desk

The act was sponsored in the Senate by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and in the House of Representatives by Representative Maria Salazar (R-FL). The bill passed the House last month in a bipartisan vote of 409-2, after passing in the Senate in February. A press release from the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation provides a brief description of what the Take It Down Act does:

The TAKE IT DOWN Act would protect and empower victims of real and deepfake NCII while respecting speech by:

• Criminalizing the publication of NCII in interstate commerce. The bill makes it unlawful for a person to knowingly publish NCII on social media and other online platforms. NCII is defined to include realistic, computer-generated pornographic images and videos that depict identifiable, real people. The bill also clarifies that a victim consenting to the creation of an authentic image does not mean that the victim has consented to its publication.
• Protecting good faith efforts to assist victims. The bill permits the good faith disclosure of NCII, such as to law enforcement. 
• Requiring websites to take down NCII upon notice from the victim. Social media and other websites would be required to have in place procedures to remove NCII, pursuant to a valid request from a victim, within 48 hours. Websites must also make reasonable efforts to remove copies of the images. The Federal Trade Commission is charged with enforcement of this section. 
• Protecting lawful speech. The bill is narrowly tailored to criminalize knowingly publishing NCII without chilling lawful speech. The bill conforms to current First Amendment jurisprudence by requiring that computer-generated NCII meet a “reasonable person” test for appearing indistinguishable from an authentic image.

So this seems like a win-win for the United States. NCII (Non-Consensual Intimate Images) may take many forms, such as images intended only for an intimate partner that get leaked, stolen, or released as "revenge porn." The Act also provides legal recourse for a person whose likeness has been the subject of AI or other "deep fake" imagery, released to harass or intimidate the victim.

 The First Lady worked to help pass this bill, at one time even making an uncharacteristic personal appearance on Capitol Hill. Being given the invitation to append her own signature to her husband's, even if purely symbolic, was appropriate - and had to be satisfying, for her and the "revenge porn" victims she worked with to get this done.

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