First lady Melania Trump observed International Women’s Day with a women’s luncheon at the White House Wednesday.
She arrived to a standing round of applause in the State Dining room in the afternoon, wearing a sleeveless black dress and walking toward a small podium under a portrait of President Abraham Lincoln.
First daughter Ivanka Trump, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, GOP Sen. Susan Collins, second lady Karen Pence and her daughter, Charlotte Pence, were also present for the luncheon.
A room of exclusively female guests dined on tomato mozzarella salad, thyme-brined chicken, spinach gnocchi and honeycrisp apple crostata at tables with oversized purple floral centerpieces, including tulips and sweet peas. The hallways surrounding the room smelled strongly floral.
Also on the menu on Wednesday afternoon: white wine. Per a program, the White House served a 2015 Pride Mountain Viognier “Sonoma.”
The first lady made remarks but the pooled press was escorted out of the room before she spoke.
Trump, who has made few public appearances since her husband assumed office, is living at Trump Tower in New York with son Barron, 10, and, per the White House, will move to Washington at the conclusion of the school year.
Her next major White House event will be the annual East Egg Roll on the South Lawn, the office of the press secretary announced Wednesday.
She identified combating cyberbullying as an issue she would champion as first lady while on the campaign trail, but it’s clear women’s issues are emerging as another area of passion and interest.
When model and actress Emily Ratajkowski spoke out against a journalist who disparaged Trump, the first lady took to Twitter to thank Ratajkowski for her support.
“Applause to all women around the world who speak up, stand up and support other women! @emrata #PowerOfEveryWoman #PowerOfTheFirstLady,” Melania Trump wrote in a rare tweet from the @FLOTUS account. She’s used the hashtag “#PowerOfTheFirstLady” four times.
Ivanka Trump, also present for the luncheon, is also actively working on women’s empowerment issues, a cause near to her heart and skill set. Her “Women Who Work” book is due out in May and she’s been working with Dina Powell, a Goldman Sachs executive turned White House adviser, on promoting women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship.
The first daughter, who does not have a formal title in her father’s administration, has been working alongside lawmakers on child care legislation. She appeared, along with the first lady, in the Oval Office as Trump signed legislation to promote women in STEM.
Ivanka Trump also helped orchestrate a women’s business initiative, launching the United States Canada Council for the Advancement of Women Business Leaders and Female Entrepreneurs while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in town last month. And she’s gotten to work building relationships, hosting two private dinner parties with business executives focused on women in the workplace.