WASHINGTON — Melania Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wednesday to promote her new initiative to help women become leaders and achieve economic power. It’s called Imperia, and its members include CEOs, founders, innovators, entrepreneurs and others. A lot of the U.S. first lady’s attention has been on children, but, with Imperia, she is leaning on her business skills to encourage women to harness their economic power and help others understand women’s role in a global economy. “For generations, women fought for a seat at the table,” she told a meeting of the group. “The next chapter is about owning, growing and making space for the women who come next.” She said that means owning businesses, equity, real estate, capital and investment assets, along with “our ideas, our intellectual property and our economic future.” “People still do not fully understand the full scale of women’s power in the global economy,” she continued. “Women are not just part of the marketplace, simple participants. We are its foundation, and we are its infrastructure.” In a rare television interview earlier Wednesday on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” to promote Imperia, the first lady addressed several other subjects, including this week’s state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, her efforts to reunite children separated from their families by Russia’s war against Ukraine, her new docuseries and the extent of her public engagements. Some recent news reports have said the first lady is appearing in public less often than during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term. Melania Trump said the difference is that she is more focused on getting results. “You don’t see me everywhere, but behind the scenes I’m working nonstop,” she said, citing as an example the preparations for her events in New York this week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and for Xi’s visit. “I’m working on so many projects ... in the future. So stay tuned.” She was deeply involved in the planning for Xi’s visit in her role as first lady. She said her husband decided to personally greet China’s leader after his plane lands because of their “great relationship.” U.S. President Trump typically greets leaders at the White House. As of July, Melania Trump had helped reunite five groups of Ukrainian and Russian children with their families, work that underscores the more global approach she has taken during the Republican president’s second term. She said that she has a “direct channel” with leaders from the warring countries and that her team is working on another reunification. “This is ongoing, and we want to reunite as many children as possible,” the first lady said. “And that’s my focus as well. What they’re going through, it’s heartbreaking. And it’s nothing better to see than a child reunite with the parents, right?” The first lady also rang the opening bell at the NYSE in January before the release of her Amazon documentary, “Melania,” about her life in the weeks leading up to Donald Trump’s inauguration for a second term in office. A new two-part docuseries featuring her will be released in the fall. She said it will be different from the documentary and teased that it will include some surprises. “It’s more conversation, one on one with me,” the first lady said. “So when I was travelling and doing all of the filming, the director was asking me questions, and there are some private questions that I will answer that people never heard before. So it’s kind of exciting.” ___ Darlene Superville, The Associated Press
