First Lady Melania Trump visits the American International School in the Saudi capital Riyadh on May 21, 2017. (Getty)
First Lady Melania Trump has been participating in her own events in Saudi Arabia, visiting a school and a business center.
The First Lady and First Daughter Ivanka Trump have been focusing on women’s issues in Saudi Arabia, the first leg of the president’s five-state foreign trip, his first in office. The president and First Lady spent several days in Saudi Arabia, where Trump on May 21 delivered a speech on extremist Islamic terrorism to a group of Muslim leaders.
First Lady Melania Trump (R) shakes hands with employees during a visit to the GE All-Women Business Process Services and IT Centre on May 21, 2017, in the Saudi capital Riyadh. (Getty)
“This is not a battle between different faiths, different sects or different civilizations,” Donald Trump said in the speech, which called for a coalition to defeat terrorists. “This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life, and decent people of all religions who seek to protect it. This is a battle between good and evil.”
US President Donald Trump speaks at the Arabic Islamic American Summit at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Riyadh on May 21, 2017. (Getty)
Meanwhile, Melania Trump earlier in the day toured the American International School in Riyadh, and a business center.
First Lady Melania Trump (2nd R) chats at the GE All-Women Business Process Services and IT Centre. (Getty)
According to ABC news, she “visited classrooms and gave several Dr. Seuss books to a preschool class,” and a school chorus “sang the song ‘Lean on me.’”
First Lady Melania Trump at the American International School. (Getty)
At the other stop, Trump visited what ABC News called “an all-women GE business center in Riyadh where she spoke to women there about the center’s work and work-life balance in general.”
“I love children. It’s my passion,” she said, according to ABC.
First Lady Melania Trump visits the American International School. (Getty)
The White House previously announced that Melania would accompany her husband on each part of the trip and would attend some events on her own.
“On Friday, May 19, 2017, the First Lady will join her husband President Donald J. Trump on an eight-day, five-stop trek to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Israel, Rome, Brussels, and Sicily, returning to Washington, DC, on Saturday, May 27, 2017,” the White House Press Office said in a statement.
First Lady Melania Trump at the school. (Getty)
“The First Lady will join her husband throughout each day, but will also participate in many of her own events. In the latter part of the trip, Mrs. Trump will attend spousal programs at the NATO and G-7 summits,” the statement said. “She will conclude the trip by delivering remarks to United States military personnel and families in Italy.”
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Ivanka Trump is also attending events on her own in Saudi Arabia focused on women’s issues, although she was photographed behind her father during his speech on terrorism.
Melania has eschewed wearing a headscarf during the journey, although her husband once criticized Michelle Obama for doing the same. Melania wore a khaki dress on the Sunday tours but arrived in Saudi Arabia in a black pantsuit with large gold belt:
US President Donald Trump (C) and First Lady Melania Trump (4-L) are escorted by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (R) as they arrive at the Saudi Royal Court in Riyadh on May 20, 2017. (Getty)
Learn more about the foreign trip itinerary here:
