Melania Trump celebrated an early Valentine’s Day with children and young adults receiving treatment for rare and serious diseases. On Wednesday, the first lady visited The Children’s Inn at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, to help make holiday-themed crafts. She also made a somewhat sour confession before a holiday famous for heart-shaped boxes of chocolates. “I don’t eat much sweets,” the first lady said. The Children’s Inn is a nonprofit that provides support to children participating in NIH clinical trials to treat their conditions. President Donald Trump has cut billions of dollars in research projects at NIH since taking office.
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — Melania Trump on Wednesday celebrated an early Valentine's Day with children and young adults being treated for rare and serious diseases, joining them in holiday-themed craft-making and chatting about their lives, health and other interests.
After they finished making flower bouquets and lanterns out of construction paper and other materials, they stepped over to a festively decorated dessert bar laid out with mini cupcakes and jars of mini chocolates and other candies.
The first lady then made a somewhat sour confession days before a holiday famous for heart-shaped boxes filled with chocolates.
“I don't eat much sweets,” she said. “Sugar is not that healthy for us.”
It was her first visit of the second Trump administration to The Children’s Inn at the National Institutes of Health, and her fourth as first lady. She visited three times in the first term.
One of the young men told the first lady he did not know how to address her and wondered whether “your highness” was an option.
Her answer?
“Melania,” she said with a smile.
The Children’s Inn is a nonprofit that provides support to children and young adults receiving treatment through clinical trials for rare and serious diseases.
Under President Donald Trump, the NIH has cut billions of dollars in research projects, bypassing the usual scientific funding process. The cuts included clinical trials testing treatments for cancer, brain diseases and other health problems that a recent report said impacted over 74,000 people enrolled in the experiments.
Congress recently approved a $47 billion budget for NIH this year, giving it a small raise and rejecting the Trump administration’s call for a nearly 40% cut to the agency's funding.
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AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard contributed to this report.
