US First lady Melania Trump is expected is to arrive in Kenya on Friday. Mrs. Trump who is in her first solo trip to the continent has always cut the figure of a quiet first lady a sharp contrast from her controversy ridden husband and active predecessors.
But mostly Mrs. Trump has worked to draw a path of her own sometimes differing with her radical husband.
SOLO TRIP TO A ‘SH*THOLE CONTINENT’
In January her husband Donald Trump infamously ruffled feathers the wrong way after publicly referring to Africa as a ‘sh*thole’ continent.
Donald’s remarks were not taken lightly but the most perturbed was the former Botswana President Ian Khama who summoned the American ambassador to Botswana requiring him to explain if he thought Botswana was a sh*thole country just like Trump had insinuated.
Melania’s has chosen Africa in her first solo trip since her husband took office; this is despite her husband’s radical views on the continent.
WILDLIFE KILLING OR CONSERVATION
Here in Kenya among the places, Melania is expected to visit is the KWS headquarters at the Nairobi National park.
According to her communication team, Melania’s trip to the service will highlight her passion for wildlife conservation.
However the visit happens just less than a year since her husband’s administration approved the import of wildlife trophies hunted from Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.
The move sparked discomfort among several countries with the then vocal Botswana president Seretse Ian Khama in March accusing Trump’s administration of encouraging poaching in Africa since trophy hunting is illegal in most of the countries that were approved.
LEBRON JAMES
Earlier in the year basketball star Lebron James in an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon accused Donald Trump of creating racial divisions in America.
Trump not too impressed by the comment took a jab at the journalist reopening the conversation on his not so friendly engagement with the media.
“Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!” Trump tweeted.
However, immediately after her husband’s statement, Mrs. Trump rushed through the open door choosing to appreciate Lebron’s efforts of opening a school for children needy children.
“It looks like LeBron James is working to do good things on behalf of our next generation and just as she always has, the First Lady encourages everyone to have an open dialogue about issues facing children today,” Mrs. Trump’s team hit back in a statement.
TO SEPARATE MIGRANT CHILDREN OR NOT
Earlier in the year, Donald Trump began a zero tolerance policy in a bid to curb illegal immigration at the US-Mexican border.
The policy has seen hundreds of children separated from their parents at the border and sent to a detention center.
A few months later Melania visited a children detention center in Texas however she contracted herself after she was photographed wearing a jacket inscribed the words “ I don’t really care, Do You?’’.
FIGHTING CYBERBULLYING
One of Mrs. Trump’s initiatives has been the Be Best campaign that seeks to promote the responsible use of social media and fight to cyberbully.
However, her initiative has been criticized by American media as her husband is termed as one of the biggest cyber bullies on the virtual space
Perhaps the most memorable was last month when her husband spent his day attacking former CIA Agent Robert Mueller and using words such as ‘democratic thugs’ on twitter just as Mrs. Trump was addressing a cyberbullying summit in Maryland.