美国第一夫人梅拉尼亚在她的非洲之行第一站加纳访问,这是她在特朗普担任总统以来首次独自大型出访。
梅拉尼亚周二早上乘飞机抵达加纳后,参观了大阿克拉地区医院。在那里她观看了婴儿被称重,并将白宫捐赠的毯子和泰迪熊分发出去。
白宫表示,梅拉尼亚的非洲之行还将包括马拉维、肯尼亚和埃及,此行将“专注于医院的孕产妇和新生儿护理、儿童教育,深深融入每个非洲国家的历史和文化,以及美国如何支持每个国家实现自力更生。“
儿童福利一直是特朗普夫人今年早些时候推出的“成为最佳”运动的焦点。
有观察人士认为,她此次的五天外访可能因特朗普总统以前对非洲的不敬言辞等行为而变得复杂。
不过,传统基金会非洲高级政策分析师梅瑟维认为,特朗普总统的话不会影响到第一夫人的非洲行程。
梅瑟维说:“我认为美非关系要远远超出总统的评论,而且这种关系已持续了几十年。”他补充说,“坦率讲,我怀疑非洲绝大多数普通人都没有听说过那些传来传去的话。这只是精英关注的一个焦点。”
梅拉尼亚步其他访问过非洲大陆的美国第一夫人的后尘。希拉里-克林顿,劳拉-布什和米歇尔-奥巴马都多次前往非洲大陆访问。
U.S. first lady Melania Trump is in Ghana at the start of a tour of Africa — her first major solo international trip since her husband became president.
Trump landed in Ghana Tuesday morning and visited the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, where she saw babies being weighed and passed out blankets and teddy bears donated by the White House.
The White House says her trip — which will also take her to Malawi, Kenya and Egypt — will “focus on maternal and newborn care in hospitals, education for children, the deep culture and history woven into each African country, and how the United States is supporting each country on its journey to self-reliance.”
Child welfare has been the focus of Mrs. Trump’s “Be Best” campaign launched earlier this year.
Her five-day trip could be complicated by the actions and words of her husband, who has referred to Africa in vulgar terms.
Joshua Meservey, a senior Africa policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation, however, believes President Trump’s words will not affect the first lady’s Africa visit.
“I think the U.S.-Africa relationship is much bigger than the president’s comments, and it’s been going on for decades and decades.” Meservey added, “Frankly, I suspect the vast majority of average Africans have not heard of any of those dust-ups. It’s very much an elite preoccupation.”
Melania Trump is following in the footsteps of other first ladies who have visited the African continent. Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama traveled to the continent multiple times.