WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump joined child patients at a Washington, DC, hospital Wednesday for an arts and crafts hour, bringing teddy bears and other gifts while chatting with the kids about their favorite musical artists and what to expect for Friday’s Independence Day festivities.
“Everybody gets a teddy bear — and more stuff, too,” the first lady said in greeting 10 inpatients and outpatients at Children’s National Hospital. “You know what we’re celebrating tomorrow?”
“Independence Day!” one eager child shouted back.
Mrs. Trump’s trip came as House Republicans neared passage of President Trump’s marquee tax-and-spending bill, sending it to the president’s desk.
A full-fledged signing ceremony could take place on the federal holiday, along with a military flyover including F-22s, F-35s and B-2 bombers — the same jets that decimated three Iranian nuclear sites just last month.
“It’s a very special day,” the first lady said. “So we will have a big party at the White House … when you feel better, maybe next year, you come over and we’ll celebrate together.”
Melania quizzed the kids about their favorite foods, sports and musical artists as they decorated rocks before placing American flags in planters in the Bunny Mellon Healing Garden, dedicated during President Trump’s first term in 2017.
One child shared that Taylor Swift — whom the president deemed “no longer ‘HOT’” in May — was the best singer, to which the first lady responded diplomatically that the “Bad Blood” hitmaker was “very talented.”
Trump in mid-May had posted about the pop star, who endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris over him in the 2024 election, on his way home from a trip to the Middle East: “Has anyone noticed that, since I said ‘I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,’ she’s no longer ‘HOT?’”
“I actually really like Sabrina Carpenter,” another girl coloring at the craft table added.
“She’s great too,” the first lady said before walking with the children out to the garden to present the hospital with a new yellow tea rose, called the “Eternal Flame.”
Asked by a child whether she liked to golf, Melania said she doesn’t play, though her husband is often seen out on the links during weekends at his West Palm Beach, Fla., club or Bedminster, NJ, resort.
Hospital president and CEO Michelle Riley-Brown the first lady and the youngsters outdoors to place Fourth of July-themed wind propellers and patriotic bows in the planting beds.
“It’s beautiful here,” Melania Trump said.
Later, the first lady visited a three-month-old patient and his family in the Transplant Unit as well as several patients with heart and kidney ailments.
Melania Trump is the eighth first lady to preside over the garden after Jill Biden, Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, Barbara Bush, Nancy Reagan, and Rosalynn Carter.
Photos of each adorn the wall inside — including one of Jill Biden and the bold toddler who stole the show by playing catch with then-President Joe Biden on a pre-Christmas visit to Children’s National in December 2024.
