First Lady Melania Trump spent the day smiling for camera crews at a children’s hospital in Washington, D.C., while Republican lawmakers rammed a nearly $1 trillion Medicaid cut through Congress.
On the House floor, sick kids were not given access to medical care as they worked with her on developing patriotic Fourth of July projects and jazzing up a garden. On the same day that the GOP passed the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” a lengthy piece of legislation that cuts Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Melania made a PR trip to Children’s National Hospital, which included gift-giving and photo ops.
For upwards of 37 million children, these programs (which cover vaccinations, cancer treatments, regular physicals, and preventive care) are vital resources.
A first lady visiting kids who are sick could seem harmless on any other day. But today? It was openly strange.
A $1 Trillion Blow to America’s Most Vulnerable
The Big Beautiful Bill, which was passed by the House 218–214 and is now waiting for President Donald Trump’s signature, cuts out vital safety net programs. The 19th says that it is going to eliminate more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and CHIP, which will affect 99% of children in foster care, disabled adults, and kids living in poverty.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, millions of people will not have any insurance at all. Republicans claim the cuts are about reducing “waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) spoke of it as “cruel, (…) cowardly, [and] a betrayal of everything this country is supposed to stand for.”
BREAKING: In a stunning moment, Rep. McGovern takes a flamethrower to Trump’s Big Ugly Bill, exposing the rush to cut Medicaid: “because Donald Trump wants a 4th of July party to celebrate this garbage bill… Not for this country. But for himself.”
— Really American 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) July 2, 2025
With little probability of employer-based insurance for those ruled out, the bill’s brutal new work requirements for non-disabled adults will cause widespread disenrollment.
Children are victims of collateral harm in this political battle, regardless of whether they work. Or not, legally.
According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Medicaid is the top child insurance program in the United States. Cuts of this kind run the risk of shutting down pediatric care facilities, particularly in rural areas and causing families to struggle to pay for services that are no more out there.
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries warned during a nearly nine-hour floor speech, “[This] effectively end[s] Medicaid.”
Was Melania Trump’s Visit a Misfire or Message?
Melania Trump’s carefully planned hospital visit was, in that sense, tone-deaf. Her infamous “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” jacket, which she wore on a public relations trip during a time of crisis at the border, can be hard to forget. She appears to be giving out teddy bears and arranging flower pots as her husband’s administration shatters children’s access to healthcare.
It is impossible to overlook that she is at a hospital where Medicaid makes a difference in patient care, even as her party actively harms that system of care. Did she not know? Not likely.
.@FLOTUS Melania sets up 4th of July decorations with the kids at Children’s National Hospital. 🥹🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/hFiwe7E0Yv
— FLOTUS Report (@MELANIAJTRUMP) July 3, 2025
Critics drew attention to the awful contrast even as GOP lawmakers celebrated their “America First” agenda. Rep. McGovern said, “This is about taking from the most vulnerable to pay off the already powerful.” The bill also gives $150 billion for immigration enforcement, of which $45 billion will go toward new detention centers.
That is more than five times the Bureau of Prisons‘ yearly budget.
Vice President JD Vance confirmed what many had feared: healthcare cuts were an effort to pay for the mass deportation infrastructure. He dubbed every other provision “immaterial” compared to deportation goals.
While the Medicaid regulations won’t be fully in place until 2027, their effect has already begun. The First Lady posed for a happy picture with some of the very children her husband’s bill could one day leave without health insurance, the same week lawmakers denied millions of children access to health care. It’s an insult to morality at this point.
RELATED: Dr. Oz Says ‘Prove You Matter’ to Get Medicaid, Critics Slam ‘Cruel’ New Work Requirements
