By Rachel Tashjian, CNN

(CNN) — First Lady Melania Trump stood in front of reporters, supporters and colleagues at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History on Friday in an ensemble of frosty wealth essentials – a Bottega Veneta peacoat, leather leggings and Christian Louboutin snakeskin heels – and extolled the virtues of a slash of black fabric that zigzagged across the white column gown she wore for her husband’s second inauguration as president, just over a year ago.

This was no mere ruffle or adornment; it was a black silk gazar summation of her biography, as imagined by her longtime stylist, designer Herve Pierre. “The meticulously formed black shape ‘Z’ on the front bodice summons decades of my early memories, life experiences, and influences,” she said. “And all of these stories are tucked deep within its crisp, strong seams — forever.”

Trump was there to celebrate the addition of her gown to the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History’s First Ladies Collection – a tradition that dates back over 100 years and has resulted in one of the museum’s most popular exhibitions. The museum’s director Anthea Hartig praised the historic nature of the moment, which she said would “help pave a new path as Mrs. Trump becomes the only modern first lady to serve two nonconsecutive terms,” sentiments the museum’s secretary, Dr. Lonnie G. Bunch III, echoed. “This is really a milestone in its own right — the first First Lady to be represented by two inaugural gowns in the more than 100 years of this museum.”

(Unsurprisingly, President Donald Trump’s recurring fisticuffs with the Smithsonian, which led to the removal of text mentioning the president’s two impeachments from the National Portrait Gallery, and to artist Amy Sherald canceling a retrospective in fear of censorship, went unmentioned.)

Since Helen Taft first donated her 1909 inauguration gown to the museum in 1912, the Smithsonian has assembled more than two dozen dresses, among other pieces, from first ladies’ wardrobes. Bunch called the first ladies exhibition “as much a timeline on American history as it is a look on fashion.” There is Michelle Obama’s goddess-like 2009 white inauguration gown embellished with flowers, which made previously unknown American designer Jason Wu a fashion star; and the staid velvet and satin blue gown Barbara Bush wore for her husband’s inauguration in 1989, back when designer Arnold Scassi was the go-to society designer for an old money set that treasured looking a bit upholstered. Each of these looks reveals the priorities and ideals of their administration, in their color, mood and silhouette. Time goes on and a sleeve begins to look comically dated and then, a few years later, it is perhaps beautiful again. Like a president’s record, a dress’s meaning becomes more nuanced and reconsidered over the years. We reward ourselves, and our understanding of our past, by reassessing time and time again.

Perhaps no first lady has been as meticulous about her style choices as Melania Trump. While first ladies tend to demure from too much fashion chatter, lamenting the public focus on something so artificial, Trump has viewed it as, if not one of her most powerful tools, then her most treasured one. “Personally, I relish the entire design process, from start to finish,” she said on Friday. “It takes time, it’s slow, but the end result is always magical. If you had a chance to see my new film, ‘Melania,’ you are well aware of what it took to bring this technical marvel to life.”

Indeed, the most riveting parts of the otherwise blah “Melania” are the extensive fittings Trump undergoes to ensure the correct cut of her Ada

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By Alaa Elassar, Bill Kirkos, CNN

(CNN) — A driver is dead after he rammed a vehicle through the gate of a power substation in Boulder City, Nevada, on Thursday in what authorities are investigating as a terrorism-related event, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

The driver, who was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, has been identified as 23-year-old Dawson Maloney of Albany, New York, Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during a news conference on Friday.

McMahill said the suspect had recently been reported missing out of New York and had communicated with family members before the incident, making statements referencing self-harm and suggesting he intended to commit an act that would put him “on the news,” including a message to his mother in which he referred to himself as a “dead terrorist son” and said he felt obligated to carry out the attack.

The “critical incident” began late Thursday morning at a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power facility located near Boulder City, according to McMahill.

At approximately 10 a.m., Boulder City police dispatch received a 911 call reporting a vehicle had crashed through a secured gate at the power substation. The caller told dispatchers the driver appeared to be deceased and that gunshots had been heard after the crash, McMahill said.

When officers arrived, they observed a broken perimeter fence consistent with a vehicle being intentionally driven through it. Investigators also saw a debris field leading to a silver Nissan Sentra bearing New York license plates. The vehicle had come to rest against large industrial wire reels inside the facility.

As officers approached the car, they found a deceased male in the driver’s seat with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to McMahill.

Surveillance video shown during the news conference captured the vehicle approaching the facility before crashing through the gate and into the power infrastructure area.

There was no indication of major damage to the facility or any other critical infrastructure, and no service disruptions were reported as a result of the incident, Tim Shay, the chief of Boulder City Police Department, said during the news conference.

McMahill said evidence recovered during the investigation included multiple books related to extremist ideologies — spanning right- and left-wing extremism, environmental extremism, white supremacy and anti-government beliefs — as well as explosive materials and components.

A search of the rental vehicle also uncovered two shotguns, an AR-style pistol, numerous loaded AR magazines and shotgun shells, two devices described as flamethrowers containing thermite material, a crowbar, a hatchet and a cellphone that is currently undergoing forensic analysis, he said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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