Melania Trump lets pyramids take priority on last leg of Africa tour
US first lady Melania Trump arrived in Egypt yesterday on the final leg of a solo four-nation tour of Africa that included a visit to the pyramids.
The low-key tour has been in stark contrast with the political turmoil back home, but where her husband was set to score a big win yesterday after days of acrimonious deadlock inside and outside the Senate over his controversial Supreme Court nomination.
The former model stepped off the plane at Cairo international airport wearing high-waisted white trousers, a pleated white shirt and a dark tie with a beige jacket slung over her shoulders.
She was welcomed by Egyptian first lady Intissar Amer Al Sisi, an observant Muslim who wore an ankle-length blue dress and matching headscarf.
Mrs Trump beamed at the flower girls before heading to the airport’s VIP lounge for formal photographs.
On the previous leg of her tour in Kenya, her choice of a white colonial-style pith helmet while on safari drew criticism on Twitter, with one user comparing her look to that of a “colonial administrator”.
In Egypt, tight security was in place across the capital for her visit, which comes as security forces face a persistent militant insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula across the Suez Canal to the north-east.
During her whistlestop fivehour stay, Mrs Trump was scheduled to visit the Pyramids of Giza and the new National Museum under construction next door.
She was in Africa to promote her children’s welfare programme and began her trip in Ghana, where she visited mothers and their newborns, and toured a former slave fort.
Mrs Trump then made a brief stop in Malawi, where she toured a primary school.
On Thursday, her husband tweeted: “Our country’s great first lady, Melania, is doing really well in Africa.
“The people love her and she loves them. It is a beautiful thing to see.”
The US Senate was expected to give President Donald Trump’s victory later yesterday by confirming conservative judge Brett Kavanaugh as the Supreme Court justice.
Washington has for days been gripped by high drama and emotion from the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford – who accused Mr Kavanaugh of sexual assault – to protests against his nomination, which rsulted in more than 300 arrests, including celebrities such as Amy Schumer.
The low-key tour has been in stark contrast with the political turmoil back home in the US