Melania Trump kicks off Africa tour amid questions, criticism

Melania Trump began her weeklong sojourn to Africa in Accra, Ghana. Landing Tuesday morning, the first lady was greeted on the tarmac by Ghanaian first lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo and a bouquet of flowers wrapped in kente cloth followed by a dancing-and-drumming performance.

From Ghana, Trump will travel to Malawi, then Kenya, and finally to Egypt, an itinerary that places the typically private first lady half a world away from her headline-dominating husband — and into the global spotlight.

Though the first lady’s trip is seen as a gesture of goodwill, it also appears to some critics of the Trump administration as out of step with her husband’s policies. Her stops will largely highlight programs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, even as the Trump administration has proposed massive cuts to USAID’s budget.

Later this week, the first lady is also expected to tour an elephant and rhino conservatory in Kenya, even though the Trump administration loosened regulations on trophy hunting and the import of elephant tusks and other animal parts. In addition, prominent members of the Trump family are big-game hunters.

As she greets dignitaries in the four countries, Melania Trump is expected to engage in the kind of “soft diplomacy” expected of first ladies. Unlike her predecessors, Trump has to contend with the baggage of her husband’s belittling comments about African nations that made headlines across the continent.

But USAID administrator Mark Green, who will accompany the first lady in Ghana, sees value in the trip. It serves to “symbolize American values and engagement. It spotlights and raises the profile of American programs in action.” And he said Melania Trump’s focus on children drew her to the region. “She had genuine interest in youth,” he said.

The median age of Africa’s more than 1 billion people is only 19.

Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s spokeswoman, said the trip is consistent with both first lady’s platform and Trump administration policy, noting that the president has said, “The U.S. is the world’s largest giver of foreign aid.”

“Africa remains a priority for this administration, and I believe the first lady’s trip through the continent will showcase just that,” she said.

DOUG MILLS / THE NEW YORK TIMES First lady Melania Trump boards her plane Monday to begin her Africa trip at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. The first lady could help an isolated U.S. show a more inclusive face to the world.