After an entreaty by her husband, Melania Trump gave remarks in Washington about the hard work ahead, invoking her husband’s campaign slogan to a gathering of GOP lawmakers – and earned a kiss when she was all done.
The Slovenian-born former model took the stage at a luncheon on the day before Donald Trump is to take the oath of office, held at the luxury hotel owned by her husband in the nation’s capital.
She mostly shunned the spotlight during her husband’s campaign, and never gave a press conference the campaign said she would hold. It was only at the invitation of her husband that she took the stage.
‘Would you like to say a couple of words?’ Trump asked her from the microphone at a podium in a room full of lawmakers and power brokers.
‘It’s great to be here and thank you all for your support,’ Melania Trump said, ‘and tomorrow we start the work.’
‘Ahead [there is] a lot of responsibility, a lot to take care of, and we will make America great again,’ she said in Slovenian-accented English, leaning into the microphone while gripping the podium with one hand.
Her brief remarks won applause enthusiastic whoops from the crowd.
When she was done, the president-elect raised his arms as if to signal that all had gone well.
Then the two embraced and exchanged a kiss on the lips.
Then, he grabbed the soon-to-be first lady by the hand and escorted her down a few stairs.
The president-elect pointed to a spot in the back of the room, where Melania Trump soon walked, as she prepared to leave.
Her husband then took the podium to salute and also poke fun at the gathered lawmakers, mentioning that Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas was always asking him for campaign funds and didn’t support him, ‘but that’s the way it is.’
She spoke at the luxury hotel owned by her husband and leased from the federal government.
The event was held inside the Presidential Ballroom in Trump’s luxury hotel in Washington.
Trump continues to be the owner of the hotel, although he told reporters he was relinquishing control of his business when he took office, with his adult sons and an executive now in charge.
Former White House ethics experts have said the hotel poses a potential conflict of interest because the government is a party to the lease and foreigners and other visitors contribute to the Trump Organization’s bottom line when they stay there.
Trump joked about the quality of the interior, which his company renovated inside the historic Old Post Office building on Pennsylvania Avenue.
‘Where is this? This is a gorgeous room,’ he quipped. ‘A total genius must have built this place.’
SOURCE: Daily Mail – Geoff Earle
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