Why Melania Trump is going to Africa on her own
The First Lady wants to highlight humanitarian efforts and development programmes in the continent
Melania Trump is to make her first big solo overseas tour as First Lady, embarking on a trip to Africa in October.
Her spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said Trump “is looking forward to meeting African children and exploring Africa's history and culture”, reports USA Today.
She is “excited” about educating herself on the issues facing children throughout the continent”, said Grisham.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In addition, Trump said she would seek to highlight the “successful humanitarian work and development programmes” being implemented in the countries she visits.
Grisham didn’t say which African countries the First Lady would visit, nor did she reveal the exact dates for her trip.
Melania Trump has often accompanied the President on foreign trips, including a week-long swing through Europe last month, but “has travelled on her own largely domestically since the inauguration”, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The choice of location may be surprising considering Africa is a “continent whose countries and citizens her husband has disparaged with coarse language”, says The New York Times.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Grisham said the First Lady chose Africa after she learned about some of the development programmes that are under way in many countries, especially in children's health and education.
“We are a global society, and I believe it is through open dialogue and the exchanging of ideas that we have a real opportunity to learn from one another,” her statement said.
Trump's only other solo international trip was last September, when she flew to Toronto for a day and joined Prince Harry to open the Invictus Games.
-
Moon dust has earthly elements thanks to a magnetic bridgeUnder the radar The substances could help supply a lunar base
-
World’s oldest rock art discovered in IndonesiaUnder the Radar Ancient handprint on Sulawesi cave wall suggests complexity of thought, challenging long-held belief that human intelligence erupted in Europe
-
Claude Code: the viral AI coding app making a splash in techThe Explainer Engineers and noncoders alike are helping the app go viral
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Ukraine, US and Russia: do rare trilateral talks mean peace is possible?Rush to meet signals potential agreement but scepticism of Russian motives remain
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Trump backs off Greenland threats, declares ‘deal’Speed Read Trump and NATO have ‘formed the framework for a future deal,’ the president claimed
-
Iran in flames: will the regime be toppled?In Depth The moral case for removing the ayatollahs is clear, but what a post-regime Iran would look like is anything but
-
Europe moves troops to Greenland as Trump fixatesSpeed Read Foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark met at the White House yesterday
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Trump, Iran trade threats as protest deaths riseSpeed Read The death toll in Iran has surpassed 500