As Melania Trump tries to enlist other first spouses to her coalition, one urgently seeks her attention
By Betsy Klein, CNN
New York (CNN) — First lady Melania Trump hosted world leaders’ spouses on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, announcing the launch of a new coalition on children’s well-being and artificial intelligence safety that she said she hoped they would join.
For one of her counterparts, Trump’s four-minute appearance at the reception marked a critical opportunity for face time with another urgent goal: ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, wife of President Volodymyr Zelensky, stood near the front of the crowded room alongside dozens of first ladies, a handful of first gentlemen and at least one queen, enthusiastically applauding Trump’s call for “simple solutions to protect our children’s ingenuity.”
Trump, in an off-white Dolce & Gabbana cashmere pantsuit with a tan blouse, called on leaders to help impose safeguards upon the spread of new technology.
“Our nations benefit from advancements in technology — saving lives, expanding access to knowledge, connecting people, and of course, safety. Nothing comes before safety,” Trump said as Zelenska watched, slowly rocking back and forth in a gilded Manhattan ballroom adorned with fresh flowers and tiered displays of macarons and finger sandwiches.
Zelenska was expected to meet with Trump following Tuesday’s event, an effort to use the US first lady’s enormous public platform to shine a light on Russian atrocities impacting her most vulnerable citizens: children.
Trump immediately departed the room after her brief remarks without greeting her counterparts as the reception continued, and Zelenska was spotted standing quietly near an elevator several minutes later while a string rendition of pop star Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” played over speakers.
An adviser to Trump downplayed any significance or change to US policy, describing the meeting as an informal hello to be polite.
“The truth is that Mrs. Zelenska has reached out to Melania several times to set up a meeting, but there’s no bilateral meeting,” Marc Beckman, a senior adviser to the US first lady, said on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”
Beckman added, “There’s nothing formal. As our first lady is very polite, she’s going to say hello today, but there’s no sit-down, substantive conversation set, no meeting set.”
But Ukraine’s first lady traveled to New York with a pressing mission to raise awareness among the international community about the thousands of children allegedly abducted by Russia since the war began in 2022. She was expected to make a personal appeal to America’s first lady, who has made the well-being of children a key part of her platform.
At an earlier event in New York on Tuesday, Zelenska warned that at the current rate, it would take 50 years to return all of the Ukrainian children who have been taken to Russia.
“These children cannot await a lifetime,” she said.
Zelenska said 1,625 children have been returned to Ukraine so far — a fraction of the overall number.
“Behind every name are months of searching, negotiations and risk,” she said.
Trump has signaled some openness to Zelenska’s plight.
In recent months, President Donald Trump has commented on his wife’s strong reactions to watching the war unfold on TV.
“I tell the first lady, ‘You know, I spoke to Vladimir today — we had a wonderful conversation.’ She said, ‘Oh, really? Another city was just hit,’” he recounted during a July Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, sparking criticism from Russian state media and prompting appreciative “Agent Melania Trumpenko” memes in Ukraine.
Last month, Melania Trump penned a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, obliquely referencing the “darkness” around children impacted by war, telling the Russian leader he has the power to “singlehandedly restore their melodic laughter.” She did not specifically name Ukraine, nor has she publicly stated a position on the war. The president delivered his wife’s letter to Putin during their August 15 meeting in Alaska.
When Zelensky visited President Trump in August, he delivered another letter, a personal appeal from his wife to the first lady, the contents of which have not been shared publicly.
The first ladies’ husbands also met on the sidelines of the General Assembly, where Trump escalated his rhetoric against Russia as the war drags on.
On Tuesday afternoon, with Zelenska in the audience of VIP spouses, Melania Trump unveiled her “Fostering the Future Together” initiative (which is not related to her “Fostering the Future” initiative on opportunities for foster children).
Its mission is vague, promising an effort to “(enhance) the well-being of children worldwide through the promotion of education, innovation, and technology,” according to her office, and will include private-sector collaboration on AI, robotics and blockchain. Beckman, on Fox News, described it as a “think tank” with branding that could be translated to other countries.
Trump called on her counterparts to “lead this movement in your region of the world,” to “safeguard healthy environments for our children” and to “work with me to empower children to achieve new heights across our planet.”
CNN’s Svitlana Vlasova and Ivana Kottasová contributed to this report.
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