Melania Trump meets Queen Rania, as White House grapples with crises

By Katie Rogers, New York Times News Service

Thursday, April 6, 2017 | 1:02 a.m.

A billionaire, a queen and a U.S. first lady walked into a public charter school on Wednesday, collecting bouquets, examining owl pellets and hugging students amid the rapid-fire clicking of cameras.

The visit to Excel Academy, an all-girls charter school, by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Queen Rania of Jordan and Melania Trump, the first lady, was meant to emphasize the Trump administration’s stance on school choice. But it was also part of a day of photo ops intended to cast a softer lens on a presidential administration grappling with several international crises, and provide another glimpse of a first lady whose sporadic appearances in Washington have revealed relatively little about her own leadership style.

A meeting at the White House

Earlier in the day, Melania Trump and Queen Rania stood behind President Donald Trump and King Abdullah II of Jordan at the White House. It was just one item on Wednesday’s agenda, which was also packed with a news conference to condemn a chemical attack in Syria and meetings to discuss brokering a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

At the news conference in the Rose Garden, Trump said his position on the civil war in Syria and his opinion of the country’s president, Bashar Assad, had changed. Trump did not offer details on any shift in policy.

King Abdullah is viewed as a moderate voice among Arab leaders and has established himself as a willing partner to Trump. This was his second visit to Washington since Inauguration Day.

Next up: A visit to a school

The day’s visits offered the U.S. public another look at Melania Trump, who has revealed relatively little about her approach to the role of first lady. As a woman who has been in the public eye for decades, Queen Rania might have provided a template of sorts for Trump: She is an education activist and a member of Jordanian royalty, and her public presence is well-curated with bilingual updates on her trips to schools, family events and hospitals.

At the short listening session with students at Excel Academy, Queen Rania asked follow-up questions about the coursework and curriculum. Trump stuck to the basics, asking the students for their names and grade levels, but later elaborated on the visit in a statement relayed by the White House.

“Education is critical to our efforts to shine a light on the topic of gender equality and empowerment of women,” Trump said. “Hearing directly from teachers and the students who attend the school was an important step in the dialogue needed to further my agenda as first lady of the United States.”

And, on social media, a debate over style.

The meeting between Queen Rania and Melania Trump was quickly framed on social media as a battle of the stylish. Both women appeared in structured looks: Trump in a Kelly green dress with a center slit and belt, and Queen Rania in a black ensemble with a high neck.

Vanessa Friedman, our chief fashion critic, offered her analysis: “They both seem to have dressed for business: covered-up and suited (or in Trump’s case, suit-dressed). It’s a very safe look, for both women, if not one that conveys fun or relaxation — or even modernity. Rather, both looks respect the office, and the idea of a state visit. Though interestingly, there is also something subtly militaristic in the tailored lines of each outfit.”

Because Americans know little about her, the curiosity surrounding Trump is sometimes focused intensely on her aesthetic: Her official portrait, released this week, instantly spawned debate over what she was wearing, her makeup, her airbrushing choices, her outfit’s designer and her physical stance. Her meeting with Queen Rania, whose outfits are often featured in tabloids for those seeking to replicate her choices, is likely to prompt a similar reaction.