What to know about El Salvador’s most notorious megaprison
As the Trump Administration touts El Salvador’s most notorious prison, CECOT, experts say the facility raises several concerns.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem drew outrage when she sported a Rolex watch reported to cost $50,000 when visiting the El Salvadorian mega-prison known as CECOT this month.
Noem was seen wearing a an 18-karat gold Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, as first reported by the Washington Post, at the prison where the Trump administration flew 261 Venezuelans to El Salvador, alleging they were members of a Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua without due process under the Alien Enemies Act.
Civil rights groups attacked Noem, pointing out that the watch was a flaunting of income disparity between the U.S. and El Salvador.
“You’re in front of all these people in a very poor country, who are in the bottom 10 or 20 percent of their country … and it looks like you’re just flaunting your wealth while you flaunt your freedom,” Adam Isacson told the Post.
A spokesperson for the secretary previously criticized USA TODAY for inquiring about the watch, saying, “Governor Noem chose to use the proceeds from her New York Times best-selling books to purchase an item she could wear and one day pass down to her children.”
It is not the first time in recent memory that sartorial choices made by politicians have drawn heat. Here are a few examples.
John Fetterman wears hoodie and shorts to inauguration
While inauguration dress codes have long casualized since Ronald Reagan wore a stroller suit to assume the Presidency, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman took it to the extreme when President Donald Trump took office for the second time in 2025.
Fetterman was seen wearing a hoodie, shorts and a t-shirt to the ceremony.
Casual attire is a part of the Democrat’s brand, eschewing tailoring in an attempt to appeal to rural voters in the Keystone State. The Senate passed a dress code in 2023 that appeared to have been in response to Fetterman’s louche attire.
Jill Biden in stockings that look like fishnets
Then First Lady Jill Biden was criticized for wearing what appeared to be fishnet stockings when arriving at Andrews Air Force Base in April of 2021.
“It’s kind of surprising, I think, how much commentary is made about what I wear or if I put my hair in a scrunchie. I put my hair up! Or the stocking thing,” Biden told Vouge. “They weren’t fishnets. They weren’t lace. They were very pretty stockings.”
Melania Trump’s ‘I Don’t Care, Do U’ jacket
First Lady Melania Trump wore a jacket that read, “I really don’t care, do u?” during a 2018 visit to a shelter holding immigrant children separated from their families.
The statement appeared to be a contradictory message for Trump’s mission to Texas, where she hoped to demonstrate how much she cared about the children separated from their parents and housed in shelters there.
President Donald Trump said at the time she wanted to learn more about how these children can be reunited with their parents “as quickly as possible.”
Donald Trump tweeted at the time that the message, “refers to the Fake News Media. Melania has learned how dishonest they are, and she truly no longer cares!”
Melania in Manolo Blahnik pumps in route to hurricane damage tour
Melania Trump also caught flack for departing Washington D.C. in heels on the way to tour damage from Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
The heels were changed for sneakers while in route to Texas. She was seen touring the damage in the sneakers, a white shirt and a cap emblazoned with the acronym “FLOTUS.”
Michelle Obama wears Lanvin to volunteer at food bank
Former First Lady Michelle Obama was seen sporting designer sneakers from Lanvin while volunteering at the Capital Area Food Bank in Washington D.C. in 2009.
CBS News reported at the time that the shoes, which completed an ensemble from J. Crew, cost $540 and were made of suede, with grosgrain ribbon laces and metallic pink toe caps.
Contributing: Heidi M. Przybyla, Maria Puente