US First Lady Melania Trump is getting ready to embark on her first major international trip without her husband, aiming to focus her five-day African tour around Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt on child welfare.
In spring, Trump met a barrage of criticism across Africa and beyond after he privately referred to a number of the continent’s states as “s---hole countries,” but declared at the United Nations as recently as last week that both he and his wife “love Africa.”
“There are many programs across the country that are doing great things for children, and I believe we can replicate many of these programs overseas. This is why I am pleased to be working closely with USAID as I prepare for my first major international trip to Africa,” Melania Trump said at the time in New York.
Twitter users seem to be divided over Melania’s plans, with some sincerely applauding her initiatives back home and intent to promote them globally:
Others, however, couldn’t resist the temptation to direct a couple of nasty words at Donald Trump’s “children welfare” policies with regard to Texas, where migrants are housed, inviting Melania to “raise Barron” first to be “a better human than his wicked father:”
Some however opted to distance her from Trump’s political moves:
One user even adduced a hilarious memes on the subject, with others explicitly demanding “the results” of her Be Best campaign:
Slovenian-born Melania Trump, mother of Donald Trump’s 12 year-old son Barron, already promotes children’s well-being in the US under a recently launched initiative called “Be Best.” Unlike her most active immediate predecessors, such as Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama, who were seen accompanying their better halves on most of their international trips, Melania Trump has been keeping a rather low profile, especially during the first six months of Trump’s term, when she was preoccupied with their son’s schooling in New York.
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In light of previous first ladies’ experience of such travel, Melania’s trip is very much anticipated in terms of her evolution in the closely watched role of a FLOTUS.