Melania Trump didn't sign executive order — here's what she did sign

In mid-May 2025, as U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Take It Down Act — a law that makes it illegal to publish intimate visual depictions of people, both authentic and computer generated, without their consent — many social media users noted that first lady Melania Trump signed the document as well.

Snopes received numerous queries from readers who shared several posts and memes claiming the first lady signed an executive order.

(X user @thetonymichaels)

However, Melania Trump did not sign an executive order. Instead, she signed a document that officially ratified into law a bill that was passed by Congress. The president signed the document first, making the law official, before encouraging her to do so as well. Therefore, Melania Trump's signature was purely symbolic because, as first lady, she has no legislative authority. As such, we have rated this claim as mostly false.

According to White House footage and press coverage, the first lady joined the president on May 19, 2025, to sign the Take It Down Act, which she described as part of her "Be Best" initiative that would "help parents and families protect children from online exploitation." 

The legislation makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish or threaten to publish intimate images — including AI-generated deepfakes, described as "digital forgeries" in the bill — without a person's consent. The bill prohibits the online publication of explicit visuals featuring:

• an adult subject where publication is intended to cause or does cause harm to the subject, and where the depiction was published without the subject's consent or, in the case of an authentic depiction, was created or obtained under circumstances where the adult had a reasonable expectation of privacy; or
• a minor subject where publication is intended to abuse or harass the minor or to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person.  

At the White House event for the signing, the president noted that Melania Trump had ushered the bill forward. After Donald Trump signed the bill into law, he encouraged his wife to sign the document. She appeared to mildly object when he said: "C'mon, sign it anyway. She deserves to sign it." The exchange can be seen below.

Per photographs on Getty Images, the first lady can be seen signing the document. When the president holds it up, her signature is visible below his.

(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

However, social media users erroneously stated that Melania signed an executive order. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, an executive order is a written directive signed by the president to order the government to take specific actions. A bill, on the other hand, is a piece of legislation that needs to be passed by Congress and signed by the president to become law. An executive order does not require congressional approval to be implemented and Congress cannot simply overturn it.

The Associated Press noted that Melania's signature was a purely symbolic gesture. Her participation in the signing took place because she advocated for this bill in Congress. As first lady, she is in an unelected and unpaid role and does not have the power to approve legislation. First ladies, according to USA.gov, act as unofficial advisers to the president, host White House parties and advocate for a range of social issues and causes.

Per Melania's speech at the signing:

This legislation is a powerful step forward in our efforts to ensure that every American—especially our young people—can feel better protected from their image or identity being abused through non-consensual intimate imagery or NCII.

Artificial Intelligence and social media are the digital candy of the next generation—sweet, addictive, and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children. But unlike sugar, these new technologies can be weaponized, shape beliefs, and sadly, affect emotions and even be deadly.

The Take It Down Act also requires social media companies to remove such imagery within 48 hours of being notified by a victim. While many states have banned the spread of sexually explicit deepfakes or revenge porn, this act enables the federal government to impose the rule on social media companies.