US Vice President JD Vance on Friday responded to the buzz around his wife Usha Vance’s inexpensive maternity dress, joking that she should head America’s budget after buying a $50 dress for just $8.75.
Replying to his wife’s post showing the dress receipt, JD Vance wrote on X, “She bought a $50 dress for $8.75. America: meet your next director of the federal budget!”
His comment came after Usha Vance, who is pregnant with the couple’s fourth child, mocked a New York Times report that attached political significance to her $8.75 coral maternity dress from Old Navy.
She bought a $50 dress for $8.75. America: meet your next director of the federal budget! https://t.co/j3upM1r3yF
— JD Vance (@JDVance) June 25, 2026
“She is wearing a stretchy coral dress that hugs her stomach, making what she is talking about very clear,” wrote fashion critic Vanessa Friedman in a New York Times fashion article titled “The Politics and Power of the Pregnancy Image”.
Usha Vance wore the dress during a Father’s Day special episode of her YouTube series, Storytime with the Second Lady, which featured her husband as the guest.
Later, the article argued that her dress and pregnancy look had political significance. It suggested that the clothing choices of women in President Donald Trump’s political circle are closely watched and can send political messages.
Taking a dig at the New York Times report, she wrote on X, “Now that we know the political significance of my $8.75 coral maternity dress from Old Navy, can’t wait to hear what the New York Times has to say about my elastic-waistband pants and compression socks!”
Now that we know the political significance of my $8.75 coral maternity dress from Old Navy, can’t wait to hear what the New York Times has to say about my elastic-waistband pants and compression socks! In the meantime, enjoy my pregnancy fashion (or lack thereof) and a good…
— Second Lady Usha Vance (@SLOTUS) June 24, 2026
The New York Times article also pointed out that several high-profile women in Trump’s political circle are either pregnant or have recently had babies. These include Usha Vance and senior Trump aide Katie Miller, who are both expecting a child, and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who recently gave birth.
“That three such prominent women in the MAGA movement were pregnant at pretty much the same time was, indubitably, a coincidence. But for an administration that has such an intuitive and strategic understanding of the power of aesthetics that an unspoken dress code in which men outfit themselves in the image of the president has developed, it has also become a telling one,” Friedman wrote.
A newspaper spokesperson, Charlie Stadtlander, told USA TODAY that the report was fair and aimed to explain how women in Trump’s administration use fashion, pregnancy and motherhood as part of their public image.
“We’re glad the Second Lady had a chance to read The Times’s reporting on fashion and pregnancy, which presented a fair and illuminating analysis of women in the Trump administration and their ownership of motherhood and image,” Stadtlander said.
