First Lady Melania Trump at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.
Melania Trump to lead UN Security Council meeting
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- Melania Trump will become the first US First Lady to preside over a UN Security Council meeting next Monday, assuming the gavel to lead a session on the roles of education and technology in advancing global peace and tolerance.
- The appearance coincides with the US presidency of the Council and President Trump’s "Board of Peace" initiative, occurring despite recent US withdrawals from major UN agencies and significant outstanding budget contributions.
Melania Trump will preside over a UN Security Council meeting next week, her office has announced, in the first such appearance by a US first lady.
“First Lady Melania Trump is set to make history at the United Nations, taking the gavel as the United States assumes the Security Council Presidency to emphasize education’s role in advancing tolerance and world peace,” her office said in a statement Wednesday.
The meeting at 3:00 pm (20:00 GMT) on Monday will focus on education, technology, peace and security and marks the first time a sitting US first lady presides over the Security Council, the statement added.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said Thursday that the visit represents “a sign of the importance that the United States feels towards the Security Council and the subject” of education.
“I can confirm that, according to our records, this will be the first time a First Lady, or first gentleman, for that matter, has ever presided over a Security Council meeting,” he added, noting that the spouses of heads of state have previously participated on behalf of non-members of the Council.
During his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Donald Trump boasted: “No one cares more about protecting America’s youth than our wonderful first lady.”
Melania’s visit comes as the president spearheads his “Board of Peace” initiative, which some critics have said is a way to circumvent the UN Security Council.
Since returning to the White House last year, Trump has withdrawn support from several major UN agencies, such as the World Health Organization.
Nevertheless, the United States recently paid $160 million to the cash-strapped UN’s general budget, of which it owes roughly $2 billion in contributions, in addition to $2 billion in outstanding payments for the UN peacekeeping budget.
