The Trumps headed to Texas on Tuesday to asses the damage done by Hurricane Harvey.
The storm triggered one of the worst floods in US history, causing catastrophic damage to the greater Houston area and has claimed more than 10 lives.
A visit to a disaster area is not the most appropriate time for high fashion, but the focus of the trip quickly turned to what the First Lady was wearing.
Former model Melania was seen leaving for Texas wearing black stiletto heels, paired with black trousers and a khaki bomber jacket.
Her shoe choice left some eyebrows raised...
But the First Lady didn’t actually wear the shoes once she landed.
When disembarked Air Force Once, she could be seen in rather more appropriate footwear once she landed in Texas, sporting a pair of white trainers.
The First Lady’s own communications director branded the furore “sad”.
In an email to Fox News, Stephanie Grisham, said: “It’s sad that we have an active and ongoing natural disaster in Texas, and people are worried about her shoes.”
Many others echoed this view...
However, it appears critcism should have instead have been levelled at what her husband was wearing, with Mr Trump using the opportunity to bust out some of his own branded merchandise.
The US president wore a white baseball cap bearing the letters “USA” for the visit, while his wife worse one emblazoned “FLOTUS”, in case anyone was in any doubt as to her position in the White House.
Trump’s ‘USA’ hat is currently on sale on his online merchandise store for a mere $40 (£31), though since there is no sign online of Melania’s hat, it may have been custom-made.
This is the third time in four days that the billionaire businessman-turned-politician has worn on-sale campaign merchandise during events related to Harvey, including two previous meetings for which the White House released photographs.
If Mr Trump’s product promotion on a visit to a disaster area wasn’t bad enough, the president also didn’t miss a chance to brag, rather than to focus on those affected by the devastating storm.
At almost every opportunity, Trump gloated about the size of his hurricane.
“We want to be looked at in five years, in 10 years from now as, this is the way to do it,” the president said on Tuesday. “We want to do it better than ever before.”
Trump also continued to tout how many supporters he has, and the size of his crowds. On Tuesday, he remarked on the crowd size while visiting Corpus Christi, saying, “What a crowd, what a turnout.”
Officials has warned of a long and difficult recovery for residents of the country’s fourth-largest city.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced Tuesday evening that he was imposing a midnight to 5am curfew to ensure public safety. (The mayor initially scheduled the curfew to begin at 10pm, but amended it to give rescue efforts more time.)
Brock Long, of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, predicted Sunday that it would take years for Texas to recover from the damage. The agency expects more than 450,000 people will seek federal assistance for storm recovery, and anticipates at least 30,000 people will be displaced.