Melania Trump Suddenly Has a Lot to Say to Fellow First Ladies
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PLEASE HOLD: Unlike ever-tweeting President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump is more selective about what she says.
FLOTUS’ key public appearances are often reduced to whichever designer label she is wearing. But in recent days, the news out of the East Wing has been all about what she has said to her female counterparts in other countries. And this morning she posted a video on Twitter encouraging people to follow the CDC’s recommendation to wear cloth face coverings in public settings where social distancing can be difficult to maintain. FLOTUS first took to Twitter on April 4 to urge the public to wear face masks, clashing with her husband’s view earlier that day that masks would not be mandated.
FLOTUS also posted a video on Twitter on Tuesday thanking medical frontline workers fighting COVID-19. In the last week, she has phoned the First Ladies of Japan, Italy, France and Canada — Akie Abe, Laura Mattarella, Brigitte Macron and Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau, respectively.
Wednesday night’s call with Abe included condolences for those who have lost their lives to the coronavirus in Japan, and reaffirmation of both nations standing together during the global pandemic.
In her call with Mattarrella earlier in the day on Wednesday, Trump offered her condolences to the many Italians who have lost their lives to the coronavirus, according to a readout from the White House. FLOTUS also expressed optimism and hope that the positive trend would continue and stressed that the American people would stand with its all, including by providing $100 million in assistance. The First Lady also spoke of the hope that “we can defeat the pandemic in the coming weeks.”
During Trump’s calls to France’s Macron and Canada’s Grégoire-Trudeau last week, she pledged solidarity and the respective parties agreed to stay in touch over the coming weeks. FLOTUS wished good health to Grégoire-Trudeau, who tested positive for COVID-19 nearly a month ago. The First Lady also cited the recent restraints on cross-border travel for nonessential travelers and the $1.7 billion duty trade in goods between the U.S. and Canada, according to the readout from that call.
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Trump’s more amplified voice coincides with the return of her chief of staff and spokesperson Stephanie Grisham to the East Wing on a full-time basis. Grisham, who had been working in the West Wing as press secretary, succeeds Lindsey Reynolds after a three-year run.
Monday’s annual White House Easter Egg Roll — a tradition dating back to 1878 — has been canceled, due to COVID-19 precautions. FLOTUS is giving thousands of colorful commemorative wooden eggs to Children’s National Hospital and other health care facilities and agencies in the Beltway. She also has something for self-isolators in other parts of the world — downloadable White House Easter egg coloring sheets.
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