FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

News

Let's check in on Melania, shall we?

Oh, she's playing with baby elephants.

As the Senate gears up for a dramatic confirmation vote of perhaps the most controversial Supreme Court nominee ever to set foot in Washington, at least one Trump seems very unbothered: Melania.

The first lady has spent the last week dancing with orphans, feeding elephants, and generally being too far away from the White House (which she totally loves!) to comment on the happenings in the Senate. Melania has been focused on her first extended solo trip as first lady and seems to be having the time of her life. In fact, if you check the official FLOTUS Twitter account, you’d have difficulty finding any mention of Washington in the last several weeks.

Advertisement

So far, the first lady’s trip seems to be going well — or at least better than the 1999 “gap year” trip that Louise Mnuchin, the wife of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, took to Zambia, apparently unaware that war was raging in the Congo. While President Trump rages about the #MeToo movement in Washington, Melania has been spotting laughing while bottle-feeding baby elephants, and snapping photos of wild animals with her iPhone. This isn’t just a vacation, though: It’s apparently part of Melania’s “Be Best” child welfare initiative. Melania’s team also claims the visit is helping to promote the work of the U.S. Agency for International Development — an agency her husband, who is no fan of African countries — has tried to cut funding to twice.

This is not the first time Melania has shown an affinity for the animal kingdom. Last November, the first lady stayed behind in Beijing after her husband departed for Vietnam during their joint trip to Asia so she could visit the zoo.

Cover image: U.S. First Lady Melania Trump goes on a safari with Nelly Palmeris (R), Park Manager, at the Nairobi National Park in Nairobi, October 5, 2018, during the third leg of her solo tour of Africa. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)