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First Lady Melania Trump, speaking out for the first time since a man was apprehended and later accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump, excoriated comedian Jimmy Kimmel in a social media post Monday after he called her an “expectant widow” during a skit airing Thursday on his late night show.

The joke was made on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” during the monologue days before an accused gunman charged through a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in a hotel in Washington, D.C., where shots were fired resulting in a Secret Service agent being shot, but saved by his bulletproof vest. The president and first lady were rushed out of the hotel ballroom unharmed. The satirical skit showed Kimmel rotating through a series of jokes about the president and Mrs. Trump.

In a social media post, Mrs. Trump said “Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn’t comedy—his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.”

In his monologue, Kimmel joked that the first lady “had the glow of an expectant widow.”

Mrs. Trump called Kimmel a “coward” and implored the ABC network, where the show airs, to “take a stand.”

“Enough is enough,” she said. “How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community.”

Not long thereafter, President Trump weighed in on social media stating he would normally not respond to anything Kimmel said, but that “this is something far beyond the pale” and called for ABC and its parent company Disney to fire him.

President Trump has now been the target of three assassination attempts. The first was during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024, where his ear was grazed by a bullet. After that incident, Mrs. Trump issued a lengthy statement.

“Let us reunite. Now,” she says. “This morning ascend above the hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence. We all want a world where respect is paramount, family is first, and love transcends. We can realize this world again. Each of us must demand to get it back. We must insist that respect fills the cornerstone of our relationships, again.”

Mrs. Trump was not at the rally at the time, but in her July 2024 statement she recounted how watching the replay of the incident impacted her.

“When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron’s life, were on the brink of devastating change,” Melania Trump said at the time.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during a briefing earlier in the day criticized Kimmel’s monologue and also said that Americans must “resolve our differences peacefully.”

CNN media critic Brian Stelter responding Mr. Trump’s post said the president’s call for Kimmel’s firing a test for the First Amendment. And while Stelter agreed with Leavitt, he later said in a social media post: “But the way to that is through SPEECH, including the speech she wants to silence.”

Updated: April 27, 2026

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Calendar

April 27, 2026

FLARE Virtual Program: Jackie Kennedy & Brooklyn’s Design Works

The First Ladies Association for Research and Education presents “Jackie Kennedy & Brooklyn’s Design Works,” a program featuring Phyllis Ross, an independent scholar of 20th-century decorative arts and design, airing on April 27, from 7 to 8 pm EST, exploring a little-known chapter in Jackie Kennedy’s post–White House life: her involvement in launching The Design Works of Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Located in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, this innovative craft enterprise was designed to support local artisans, promote economic opportunity, and bring national attention to the community. The talk examines how Jackie Kennedy became interested in Bedford-Stuyvesant, why she supported the creation of a craft-based business, the role she played in promoting and sustaining Design Works and the broader historical significance of this initiative.

The presentation also introduces the forthcoming book Stories in Fabric: The Design Works of Bedford-Stuyvesant, to be published by Fordham University Press. Read more

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May 3, 2026

Ranger Talk: Julia Grant During the Civil War

The Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site in St. Louis, Missouri, will feature an in-person ranger talk “Julia During the Civil War” from 1 to 2 p.m. local time that discusses Mrs. Grant’s extensive traveling during wartime. During that time period, Mrs. Grant spent most of her time traveling to White Haven to visit her father, to the Grant’s Galena, Illinois, home, and to the front line of the war with children in tow. Read more

May 8, 2026

Legacy Lecture: First Mothers

The National First Ladies Library & Museum presents a virtual Legacy Lecture: “First Mothers—Celebrating First Ladies as Mothers in the White House” on May 8 from noon to 1 p.m. EDT. From Dolley Madison to Edith Roosevelt and more, this Mother’s Day-themed program highlights the unique experiences of first ladies as mothers and the enduring impact of their stories. Attendees will also enjoy a Special Mother’s Day Virtual Tea with recipe cards sent in advance and a festive virtual hat contest. Read more

May 13, 2026

Talk with a Curator

The National First Ladies Library & Museum presents “Talk with a Curator,” a virtual program at 7 p.m. EDT featuring members of the curatorial team sharing insights into how artifacts are acquired, preserved, and interpreted to tell the powerful stories of America’s First Ladies. From research and conservation to exhibition planning, this program offers a deeper understanding of the care and thought behind the collections that connect the public to history. Read more

May 15, 2026

Conference: ‘250 Years of First Ladies Making History’

Registration is now open for the “250 Years of First Ladies Making History,” a conference celebrating presidential spouses, their contributions as part of America’s 250th anniversary of its founding.

The event, sponsored by FLARE and American University’s School of Public Affairs First Ladies Initiative, will bring together scholars, teachers, institutions, first ladies staff, biographers, archivists, journalists, historians, students and anyone with an interest in U.S. presidential first ladies for a day-long conference at American University in Washington, D.C.

The conference will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time on May 15. Colleen Shogan, former Archivist of the United States and CEO of In Pursuit, will keynote the conference luncheon with an interview by Anita McBride, FLARE founding member, a Gould Award Recipient, co-director of In Pursuit and Director of the First Ladies Initiative at American University. Register here.

May 19, 2026

30th Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum

On May 19, 2026, the Carter Center’s Rosalynn Carter Mental Health and Caregiver Program will convene the 30th Annual Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum, a milestone gathering dedicated to advancing mental health policy, systems, and practice across the state of Georgia. Read more

Send calendar items, press releases and announcements to jtaylor@eastwingmagazine.com.

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A new scholarly publication exclusively dedicated to assessing the impact of American first ladies debuted Saturday with two peer-reviewed articles about former First Lady Mamie Eisenhower.

The First Ladies Association for Research and Education released the inaugural, online issue of The Journal of First Ladies Studies designed to advance research on the lives, influence and historical impact of presidential spouses.

For decades, scholars studying first ladies have faced difficulty trying to publish research in history journals that focus broadly on time periods or geographic areas.

“There wasn’t really any dedicated scholarly space for people who work on first ladies,” Christopher J. Leahy, Ph.D., editor of the journal and Professor of History at Keuka College, tells East Wing Magazine in a recent Zoom interview. “That was one of the things that I thought we needed to do was essentially establish a flagship journal with the mission of building the field of First Ladies Studies.”

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The American presidency has long been the focus of extensive research led by mostly men. The journal represents an important marker in the growing field of historical scholarship. In recent years, scholars have unearthed crucial archival information about the wives of presidents that provides crucial insight into the lives of these iconic women, their husbands and their own political and cultural contributions in addition to their specific contributions to the White House and role of first lady.

“The presidency has been a partnership since Martha Washington arrived in New York and the new president handed her a list of duties and events to oversee,” said Diana B. Carlin, Ph.D., president of FLARE in a press release. “The wives of presidents have contributed to shaping the new country and have impacted our history since 1789. FLARE’s journal is a new way to recognize those contributions and make first ladies’ legacies better known.”

The inaugural issue includes two original scholarly articles examining the evolving public roles of first ladies across American history and both focus on First Lady Mamie Eisenhower. The articles, according to FLARE, reflect the growing scholarly interest in mid-20th century women’s history and the development of the modern public role of presidential spouses.

The article “Housepower: Mamie Eisenhower’s Hidden Hand Partnerships,” authored by Sharon Williams Leahy, an independent scholar, explores Mrs. Eisenhower’s collaborations with entrepreneurs that shaped entire American industries. In particular, Leahy’s work reassesses the significance of “Mamie Pink.”

And, “Making Mamie: How a Presidential Library Reinvented the Collective Memory of a First Lady,” authored by Teri Finneman, a professor in the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas, examines the 2018-2019 renovations at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene, Kansas, which made the first lady a central character in its story. Finneman maintains that a more modern version of Mrs. Eisenhower has begun to take shape in the collective memory.

The articles, together, prompt a reappraisal of Mrs. Eisenhower and, Christopher Leahy hopes, a reevaluation of her in the current historiography.

“We have this image of her, and traditionally the image of her has been that she was a housewife very much in keeping with the 1950s mentality of women being in the home,” he says. “Both of these articles really chart a new course for the interpretation of Mamie Eisenhower because both of them argue that viewing her as just a housewife is not an appropriate way to view her.”

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The free-access, online journal resides on the FLARE website. The cover, a design refined by Ashly Dumbleton, includes the full-length White House portraits of U.S. first ladies against a rich lavender background. The individual images, Christopher Leahy says, allows readers to see how the women dressed and how their presentations evolved over time.

“The one thing I really appreciate [about the journal] is a different perspective on the first lady and that’s very powerful to me,” says Dumbleton. “I think that’s really important for the world to know.”

The second issue of The Journal of First Ladies Studies is slated for fall 2026. FLARE also is seeking submissions for the 2027 issues. Scholars, graduate students and independent researchers working in fields including women’s history, political history, cultural studies and public history are encouraged to submit articles based on original research.

The journal, launched on National First Ladies Day, is a bold step in launching a field of First Ladies Studies. For Christopher Leahy, the publication makes people aware that doing work on first ladies–whether it’s at the doctoral level or beyond–is “something worth doing.”

East Wing Magazine is a member of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education.

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President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were unharmed on Saturday after they were rushed out of a Washington, D.C., hotel where a suspected gunman fired shots outside a ballroom while the White House Correspondents Association dinner was taking place.

The Secret Service said a 31-year-old man from California was uninjured and taken into custody after he sprinted through the magnetometer security screening area and fired shots outside of the ballroom just minutes into the dinner. The man, according to law enforcement, was armed with a shotgun, handgun and multiple knives. Secret Service agents in response appeared to draw their guns at the assailant. One Secret Service agent was shot by the suspected gunman, but saved by the fact that he was wearing a bulletproof vest.

Video inside the ballroom captured a stunned first lady and the president around 8:36 p.m. EDT ducking under the table where they were seated as security swarmed the dais before escorting them out. White House Correspondents’ Association President Weijia Jiang moments earlier had made opening remarks.

Shortly after the president and first lady were whisked away, Mr. Trump assembled a press briefing at the White House where reporters still in their formal wear asked questions of the president who was dressed in a tuxedo. The event was canceled for security protocol reasons.

“The man has been captured,” President Trump said during the briefing. Details about the gunman and his motive were still unclear, although the man reportedly stayed at the hotel. Mr. Trump also stated that the dinner should be rescheduled in the “next 30 days.”

“We’ll make it bigger and better. We are not going to let anyone take over our society,” the president said.

The president also thanked the first lady, who was present inside the White House press briefing room.

Recalling the events of the evening, the president described how “it was a rather traumatic experience” for the first lady. He recalled how his wife was “very cognizant” of what was happening.

“She was saying, ‘That’s a bad noise,’” Trump said.

Outside the ballroom on the entry level of the hotel, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, an eyewitness to the event, reported that he was standing just feet from the shooter when the incident happened and was thrown to the floor and protected by a law enforcement officer. The gunman was firing as Blitzer was taken to the ground.

“I just saw a big gun” and “heard a lot of bangs,” Blitzer told network anchors shortly after the incident. “It was a very frightening moment.”

The shots were fired outside the ballroom, he said, describing three to six shots fired as “very loud.”

Back in the press briefing, the president was asked how Saturday’s incident would impact him given his survival of an attempted assassination during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024, where his ear was grazed by a bullet.

“I’ve studied assassinations and the most impactful people,” he said. “The people who do the most, the people who make the biggest impact, they are the ones they go after.”

He went on to say the ballroom was “very secure” and law enforcement acted “very quickly.”

“I was very impressed with the Secret Service,” the president said, who also noted that the incident was another reason why the proposed White House Ballroom should be built. The construction has been halted by a district judge who recently ordered that it needed approval from Congress.

Before closing out his remarks during the briefing, the president gestured to the first lady off camera saying, “I have a first lady who’s doing a terrific job. She loves the country, and she recognizes it better than anybody. She’s told me numerous times, ‘You are in a dangerous job,’ but that goes along with her, too. I mean, it’s dangerous for her, too. We sat there tonight we heard that noise and it was either a tray or a bullet. I thought, I was hoping it was a tray, but it wasn’t.”

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First Lady Melania Trump revealed that a tiny, handcrafted replica of the White House is now home to an expanded bee colony on South Lawn, the White House announced on Friday.

The newly installed and fully functioning beehive houses two new bee colonies in addition to two existing colonies that produce the White House’s signature honey. The new hive and its base were designed by the White House Executive Residence staff and hand-crafted by a local Virginia artisan. It is expected to increase annual honey production by an estimated 30 pounds and support White House culinary dishes, official gifts from the president and the first lady and charitable donations of healthy foods to local food kitchens.

The White House honey is known for its light clover and basswood flavor, with a subtle hint of citrus. It is used by Executive Residence chefs to sweeten teas, prepare salad dressings, and craft desserts.

The White House beekeeping program officially began in 2009 when then First Lady Michelle Obama established the official White House vegetable garden. The program has been managed by White House Carpenter, Charlie Brandt, who started beekeeping as a hobby on the complex a few years prior. Beekeeping has since become a lasting tradition on the South Lawn, according to the White House.

During peak summer months, the existing two hive populations have reached approximately 70,000 bees, driving production up to 200-225 pounds of honey in a productive year. It is estimated that this latest addition will allow peak production to increase, in time, to 230-255 pounds of honey or more, according to the White House.

The installation will support the existing colonies in pollinating the nearby White House Kitchen Garden, Flower Cutting Garden, and vegetation on the National Mall. It will also serve as an educational feature, offering potential opportunities for visitors on the South Lawn to get a closer look at a working colony and learn about pollination and food production firsthand.

The expansion, funded through the Trust for the National Mall, continues a legacy of stewardship across administrations—adding to the legacy of the Kitchen Garden, the Flower Cutting Garden, and other beekeeping efforts now supported by White House Chief Horticulturist, Dale Haney, and local apiarists.

To watch an official video by the Office of the First Lady featuring the expanded beehive, click here.

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A Call to Action and for Unity from Melania Trump at Annual Congressional Luncheon

Before an annual gathering of spouses of members of Congress, the administration, Supreme Court, along with business leaders and donors, First Lady Melania Trump on Thursday issued a call to action to help “change people’s lives for the better.”

Mrs. Trump in her remarks at the Congressional Club’s 113th First Lady’s Luncheon promoted unity to help drive change, an approach consistent in her efforts to support bipartisan legislation such as the Take It Down Act, which was signed into law last year and, earlier this month, snagged its first conviction.

She briefed the audience on many of her accomplishments since her husband returned to the White House. Particularly, Mrs. Trump shared her hopes for more bipartisan legislation that would reform the John H. Chafee Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood, the nation’s primary program dedicated to supporting youth from ages 14 to 23 who are transitioning out of foster care. Last month, the committee announced the introduction of six bills that would modernize the Chafee Program and improve outcomes for youth aging out of foster care. The proposed legislation addresses challenges that have been identified by stakeholders, witnesses and youth in foster care and aligns with Mrs. Trump’s Fostering the Future initiative she established in 2021 to provide individuals in the foster care community with access to education at the university level.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as first lady, but understand that my persistence alone is not enough,” Mrs. Trump said.

She also spoke of her efforts to advance artificial intelligence in education, noting that all 50 states are participating in the Presidential AI Challenge and nearly 3,000 schools across the country joined the White House AI Workshop. Earlier this year, she addressed the United Nations Security Council about education and recently hosted leaders from dozens of countries at the White House for her Fostering the Future Together initiative where she spoke about empowering children with technology and education.

“We are not here to prepare our children for yesterday’s world. Be purposeful with your objectives and remember that AI accelerates everything,” Mrs. Trump said. “The world doesn’t move for those who stop.”

Applause interrupted the first lady’s remarks several times. She also talked about her work helping unite Ukrainian children with their families.

“I completed the fourth reunification of Ukrainian and Russian children with their families. As you can imagine, this is no easy feat, but I applaud leadership from both nations in working with my representative and me to bring love and safety back to each individual who has been displaced as a result of this horrible war,” she said.

After the speeches, the first lady was presented with the painting dedicated to America’s 250th anniversary of its founding that showed a collage of images consisting of the Capitol, the American flag, the White House, cherry blossoms and the Lincoln Memorial. Usha Vance, who was also in attendance and who is expecting another child, was given a baby blanket.

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The Weekly Wrap

The Weekly Wrap is a collection of headlines from the past week. Some publications have paywalls.

American FLOTUS

From White Haven to the White House: The 200 Year Legacy of First Lady Julia Grant

April 23, 2026 – Robert Lippert and Nick Sacco from the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site join host Alan Lowe to discuss the remarkable life and legacy of Julia Grant in the year celebrating her 200^th birthday. From her youth in Missouri and meeting a young Ulysses Grant, to the horrors of the Civil War and her eight historic years as first lady, Sacco and Lippert paint a picture of a woman who left her mark on Washington and our nation. Listen here

East Wing Magazine

A Proposed Memorial for the John Adams Family to Also Honor Two First Ladies

April 23, 2026 – America’s 250th anniversary year of its independence is well underway, and so, too, is a rekindled effort to memorialize a key founding father—John Adams, the second president of the United States—and members of his family. Read more

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IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson

Angel Reese on the WNBA, Reality TV, and Establishing Her Legacy

April 22, 2026 – Two-time WNBA All-Star and fellow podcaster Angel Reese joins Michelle and Craig to dish about their favorite reality TV shows and what it’s like to exist in the world as a tall person. Angel opens up about the importance of protecting her peace, what she misses about her life before fame, and why she approaches her career with the same strategy she uses on the court. View here

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In Pursuit with Colleen Shogan

Martha Washington’s First Steps: A Conversation with Karin Wulf

April 21, 2026 – How did Martha Washington create an office before women could hold one? Colleen Shogan talks with Karin Wulf, Librarian and Director, the John Carter Brown Library, and Professor of History at Brown University, about the first first lady, the struggle to throw off monarchy in the new republic, and the search for Martha Washington herself. Listen here

Today

George W. Bush Has a Theory for Why People Love His Friendship with Michelle Obama

April 21, 2026 – George W. Bush didn’t initially understand all the hoopla surrounding his friendship with former First Lady Michelle Obama. But, he later figured out how novel it was for some folks to see two people from different backgrounds “having fun” together. Read more

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East Wing Magazine

Julia Dent Grant Embraced Change

April 20, 2026 –A carefree scene of windswept clouds against a bright blue sky above majestic, blooming locust trees is how Julia Dent Grant begins her historic memoirs. The former first lady and wife of President Ulysses S. Grant, the heroic Civil War Union Army general, vividly recalls her earliest memories with her mother, father and brothers in that bucolic setting on the front piazza of her childhood home, White Haven, in Missouri. Read more

The Associated Press

Former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton Completes Boston Marathon, Bill and Hillary Meet Her at Finish

April 20, 2026 – Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton finished the Boston Marathon on Monday and her parents were waiting at the finish line to congratulate her. Read more

The Palm Beach Post

Palm Beach Bishop Appeals to Melania Trump Amid Vatican Dispute

April 20, 2026 – The bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach, whose territory includes President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, has waded into the fractious relationship between Washington and the Vatican. In a social media statement this month, Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez called on First Lady Melania Trump to advocate for a “compassionate solution” to a funding dispute over a program for children. Read more

Deadline

Barack & Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground To Go Independent After 8 Years At Netflix

April 19, 2026 – Higher Ground will be breaking new ground in its evolution. The production company of President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama will transition to becoming independent when its current first-look deal with Netflix is up later this year, sources said. Read more

CNN

White House Garden Tours Offer an Inside Look at Trump’s Transformations

April 18, 2026 – The White House opened its gates to members of the public for the annual spring garden tours this weekend, offering DC locals and tourists a chance to roam its outdoor grounds and view the South Lawn, trees planted by former presidents, and see its historic gardens in bloom. Read more

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America’s 250th anniversary year of its independence is well underway, and so, too, is a rekindled effort to memorialize a key founding father—John Adams, the second president of the United States—and members of his family.

It’s been years in the making. But as far as history is concerned, a more recent reassessment of the contributions by the Adams family has put into motion momentum for establishing a new presidential monument on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in their names. It would stand in the vicinity of the Washington Monument and Thomas Jefferson Memorial—prominent landmarks named for George Washington and Jefferson, the first and third presidents, respectively, who bookended John Adams’ single-term presidency.

There are five presidential monuments on the National Mall and unlike most of them, the Adams Memorial will not single out the second president. Uniquely, it would also pay tribute to John Adams’s son and sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams. Notably, the proposed legislation for the memorial also recognizes the presidents’ spouses, Abigail Adams and Louisa Catherine Adams, and the contributions they made as first ladies in helping shape the nation.

So it seems Abigail Adams’ now famous words to her husband to “Remember the Ladies” in drafting the nation’s founding documents have, indeed, not been forgotten.

“It’s a tremendous tribute to both former first ladies,” Congressman John Moolenaar, a Republican from Michigan who was appointed to the Adams Memorial Commission and sponsored the bill, tells East Wing Magazine in a recent phone interview. “Anybody who has been involved in serving government knows that spouses play such a vital role and make such a sacrifice.”

Only one other presidential memorial on the National Mall pays tribute to a first lady—the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. There, a statue of his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, stands with an emblem of the United Nations behind it. Mrs. Roosevelt was the first U.S. delegate and helped craft the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights after her husband’s death in 1945.

“Abigail is the most extraordinary woman and John Adams would not be John Adams without her,” says Jackie Cushman, chair of the Adams Memorial Commission and president of the Adams Memorial Foundation. “She was clearly his rock.”

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The Adams Memorial Foundation outlines the family’s contributions beginning with John Adams serving as the nation’s first vice president and second president. He nominated George Washington as Commander in Chief and urged Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence. He secured Dutch loans that helped finance America in its infancy. John Adams was also a key negotiator for the Treaty of Paris in 1783 that ended the Revolutionary War.

Abigail Adams served as her husband’s confidant and advisor. Her letters help piece together the crucial history of the Founding era from a female perspective when women could not own property or vote. Her personal letters to her husband demonstrate Abigail Adams’ advocacy for women to have more control over their own lives. John and Abigail Adams were the first to occupy the White House after it was built and they opposed slavery.

John Quincy Adams served as the sixth president of the United States and was also known as a skilled diplomat and the only president in U.S. history to serve in Congress after his one term in the White House. His wife, Louisa Catherine Adams, helped build connections for her husband that led to his election as president, shaped the role as first lady in arranging for diplomatic visits and helped guide the country in mourning when John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on the same day.

The memorial also honors Charles Francis Adams, a congressman, ambassador and son of John Quincy and Louisa Adams; and Henry Adams, a scholar, historian and son of Charles Francis Adams.

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Building a monument on the National Mall is no easy feat. It requires an act of Congress. The memorial’s legislation, titled “The Adams Memorial–Great American Heroes Act,” cleared the House of Representatives with strong bipartisan support in December. The bill is currently pending in the Senate. Attempts to create the Adams Memorial first began in 2001, but stumbled because of fundraising challenges and when a location could not be agreed upon. Legislation for those efforts were reauthorized twice before the authority finally expired in 2020. The bill, if approved by the Senate, would authorize the work of the commission to continue through 2032 and move the memorial forward.

The lengthy time frame is important, says Cushman, who resides in Atlanta, to allow for private fundraising and because the process is long and complicated with approvals eventually needed from two federal design review agencies—the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts.

The legislation suggests the memorial be located in “Area I” in President’s Park south of the White House. It also suggests if the first location is deemed unsuitable or unfeasible, then it can be constructed within a different area of the National Mall.

“By locating the Adams Memorial in an even more prominent location, the legislation is creating parity with other Presidential memorials and demonstrating the significance of the Adams family’s contribution to the founding of our nation,” the bill reads. “By recognizing and commemorating this founding family ahead of America’s 250th anniversary in 2026, the bill advances the goals of President Trump’s Executive Order … ‘Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday.’”

Other memorials on the National Mall approved by Congress recently are for the Global War on Terrorism Memorial (2021) and the Women’s Suffrage Monument (2025), in which all of the living first ladies serve as honorary chairs.

Part of the foundation’s purpose is to help educate people about the Adams family. Recently, the foundation launched a new initiative called The Abigail Adams Society, a giving society that honors her legacy and helps support the memorial. Within it, a monthly book club with author discussions explores the family’s history.

“The society really highlights that [Abigail Adams] was unique, that she had a key role in our nation’s founding,” Cushman says, adding that the memorial will be “the prominent location of a woman being memorialized in Washington, D.C., which is hugely important.”

As the commission waits for congressional approval, supporters of the memorial are getting the word out about fundraising with the hope that design work can commence shortly thereafter.

“I just think it’s time to recognize the contribution of this family,” Moolenaar says. “It’s received strong bipartisan support and it’s long overdue.”

For more information about the Adams Memorial Foundation and to support their work, click here.

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A carefree scene of windswept clouds against a bright blue sky above majestic, blooming locust trees is how Julia Dent Grant begins her historic memoirs. The former first lady and wife of President Ulysses S. Grant, the heroic Civil War Union Army general, vividly recalls her earliest memories with her mother, father and brothers in that bucolic setting on the front piazza of her childhood home, White Haven, in Missouri.

That roughly 10-acre plantation, now formally named the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site preserved outside of St. Louis, gives visitors a window into Julia Dent Grant’s formative years. At White Haven, she lived a privileged family life and recalls a “happy home,” which was maintained and supported by enslaved people.

Two-hundred years after her birth in 1826, the National Park Service, which oversees the historic site, is commemorating the former first lady and her bicentennial birth year with a series of events that tell her story. For Julia Dent Grant, those earliest memories of White Haven and her upbringing are, perhaps, what nurtured two of her most defining traits—independence and adaptability.

On Wednesday, Ulysses Grant Dietz, a great-great grandson of the former president and former first lady, will continue the site’s celebration of Mrs. Grant with the presentation “Julia and Ulysses at Home: The Grants in the White House, 1869-1877.” The free, in-person talk will center on Julia Dent Grant’s role as first lady, her impact on the Executive Residence and the places and homes where the Grants lived.

“It’s a great milestone,” Dietz, a former curator studying the material culture of the 19th century, tells East Wing Magazine in a recent phone interview. “She represents, really, the whole story of the European-American woman from the 1820s until the turn of the 20th century.”

Specifically, he notes how his great-great grandmother witnessed a complete transformation of the United States in her 76 years, which included rapid westward expansion, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, the abolishment of slavery, Reconstruction, industrialization and the women’s suffrage movement.

“[She] embraces it as this is what life is,” he says. “Life is about change and movement and adapting.”

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As first lady, Mrs. Grant enthusiastically embraced the role with regular events and informal receptions. At her White House receptions, she chose to greet people who were properly dressed, regardless of their race. Although, Black people never called on her. Scholars surmise security kept them from entering the White House.

She also professionalized the White House staff and organized state dinners as a way for the Grant administration to assert American influence in international affairs, says historian and curator Nick Sacco who works at the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site.

“It’s a form of diplomacy, to a certain extent, a form of soft diplomacy,” Sacco says. “Julia is marshaling the assistance of wives of cabinet members, wives of Supreme Court justices, to host these events at the White House.”

The Grants’ eight years in the White House was home to them for longer than any other home they lived in, according to Rob Lippert, lead park ranger and acting program manager for interpretation, education and volunteers at Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site.

“She grew rather comfortable being the wife of Ulysses Grant as a general, but once she got in the White House, she really made it home,” Lippert says, noting she was “genuinely sad” to leave at the end of her husband’s two terms.

Stories like these about Julia Dent Grant as first lady and her pre- and post-White House life will be the focus of a comprehensive exhibit that is slated to open next month commemorating Mrs. Grant’s 200th birthday, which also corresponds with the yearlong 250th anniversary celebration of America’s founding.

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On May 22, Sacco will present a lecture “Julia Dent Grant: A 200 Year Legacy” kicking off the special exhibit, which will run through September 30. The event is notable especially since the site did not feature an exhibit commemorating Ulysses S. Grant’s bicentennial four years ago.

The exhibit, to be featured in the rotunda space of the 1869 horse stable built by Ulysses S. Grant at White Haven, will tell Julia Dent Grant’s story through a series of more than 30 artifacts, many loaned to the historic site from different institutions and individuals. These are artifacts, says Sacco, that have never been displayed in St. Louis. There will be an entire photography section devoted to both Grants as well as two portraits of Julia Dent Grant on loan—one taken with her two eldest sons dating back to 1854 when she was 28 years old.

Also on display will be items from the Grants’ wedding that took place in St. Louis on August 22, 1848; Julia Dent Grant’s photo album from the couple’s two-year world tour after the presidency; and a copy of Mrs. Grant’ first memoirs. With these items, Sacco says, they’re telling a story that helps people appreciate the ups and downs of Mrs. Grant’s life.

“Certainly, she was a child of privilege and certainly she was somebody who was pampered, but at the same time, she experienced the hardships of living on the farm here when [Ulysses] Grant was trying to make it as a farmer here in St. Louis,” Sacco says.

Visitors will also learn more about that fateful night at Ford’s Theatre when President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. The Grants were invited by the Lincolns to attend that evening, but had declined.

“How difficult that must have been thinking about what might have happened, or the possibility of Ulysses, or both of them, being killed,” Sacco says.

Other challenges in Julia Dent Grant’s life represented in the exhibit include how she adapted and embraced changes about race and slavery after the Emancipation Proclamation freed enslaved people in Confederate states in 1863. Mrs. Grant was disappointed that no African American women showed up to her White House receptions despite instructions that they were open to all.

“You see her go from utilizing enslaved women to welcoming free Black women to the White House and to be on somewhat equal footing with their white counterparts,” Lippert says.

Julia Dent Grant, like many lesser known American first ladies, has been underrated, says Pamela K. Sanfilippo, acting deputy superintendent at Gateway Arch National Park and former historian at Ulysses S. Grant National History Site. For a long time, presidential spouses have been seen as bystanders in a larger political and public realms. But the publication of Mrs. Grant’s memoirs in 1975 have helped reassess her and “rightfully so,” says Sanfilippo.

“She was a woman of her time,” Sanfilippo says. “She wasn’t necessarily active in the anti-slavery movement or women’s right movement. Her main focus was as a mother and wife.”

Home for Mrs. Grant evolved as much as she did. From the moment she left White Haven to travel with her husband to his outposts including New York and Detroit, she adjusted to the “moveable home front,” says Sanfilippo.

Her ability to adapt and change as a result of the experiences throughout her life stand out, she added. From growing up in St. Louis and in the lush countryside at White Haven to ascending to fame as a Civil War general’s wife to a United States first lady, Mrs. Grant embraced the change instead of resisting it.

“That, to me,” says Sanfilippo, “is Julia.”

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The bicentennial celebration of Julia Dent Grant at the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site at White Haven continues with the following special events:

May 3: The historic site will feature an in-person Ranger Talk on “Julia During the Civil War” from 1 to 2 p.m. local time that discusses Mrs. Grant’s extensive traveling during wartime. During that time period, Mrs. Grant spent most of her time traveling to White Haven to visit her father, to the Grant’s Galena, Illinois, home, and to the front line of the war with children in tow.

June 27: Ranger Talk on “The Grants’ World Tour” from 10 to 11 a.m. local time.

Aug. 22: History Talk on the “Grants’ Wedding” 10 to 11 a.m. local time.

Sept. 12: “Night Walk Living History: Remembering Julia” will feature a living history with performers that will include a portrayal of Ulysses S. Grant who will talk about his love for Julia.

Sept. 17: Hardscrabble and White Haven Open House featuring “Farm to Table Dinner” at Grant’s Farm 4:30 to 8 p.m. local time.

Sept. 19: Hardscrabble and White Haven tours from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. local time.

Oct. 24: History Talk on “Julia and Fashion Through Photographs” from 10 to 11 a.m. local time.

For more information about the events call 314-842-1867.

Calendar

April 23, 2026

From Poise to Purpose: Pat Nixon, Betty Ford, and the Changing Role of First Lady

The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation presents a birthday event at the Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on April 23, 2026, to honor First Lady Betty Ford, who turned 108 on April 8.

Betty Ford and Pat Nixon shared more than just the first lady position: they also shared a long history of friendship and mutual admiration. Heath Hardage Lee, author of The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon, will discuss Pat Nixon’s life and times as well as the intertwined fates of Mrs. Nixon and Mrs. Ford, and their contrasting styles as first lady. Read more

April 23-25, 2026

The Missouri Cherry Blossom Festival

Presidential descendants and nostalgic television and film actors will come together in the small town of Marshfield in rural southwest Missouri for a unique blending of American history and culture at the Missouri Cherry Blossom Festival. The event includes a daylong celebration of National First Ladies Day, which this year falls on April 25. Also scheduled are: an appearance at the 16th Annual State Dinner by Ashley Reagan, granddaughter of former President Ronald Reagan; an appearance on National First Ladies Day by Prescott Bush, grandson of George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush; a “Descendants of the Founding Fathers” panel in honor of the nation’s 250th anniversary of its founding; and also on First Ladies Day, Tweed Roosevelt (Theodore and Edith Roosevelt’s great-grandson) will share memories and speak about the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota, slated to open on July 4. Read more

April 25, 2026 - National First Ladies Day

April 27, 2026

FLARE Virtual Program: Jackie Kennedy & Brooklyn’s Design Works

The First Ladies Association for Research and Education presents “Jackie Kennedy & Brooklyn’s Design Works,” a program featuring Phyllis Ross, an independent scholar of 20th-century decorative arts and design, airing on April 27, from 7 to 8 pm EDT, exploring a little-known chapter in Jackie Kennedy’s post–White House life: her involvement in launching The Design Works of Bedford-Stuyvesant. Read more

May 8, 2026

Legacy Lecture: First Mothers

The National First Ladies Library & Museum presents a virtual Legacy Lecture: “First Mothers – Celebrating First Ladies as Mothers in the White House” on May 8 from noon to 1 p.m. EDT. From Dolley Madison to Edith Roosevelt and more, this Mother’s Day-themed program highlights the unique experiences of first ladies as mothers and the enduring impact of their stories. Attendees will also enjoy a Special Mother’s Day Virtual Tea with recipe cards sent in advance and a festive virtual hat contest. Read more

May 13, 2026

Talk with a Curator

The National First Ladies Library & Museum presents “Talk with a Curator,” a virtual program at 7 p.m. EDT featuring members of the curatorial team sharing insights into how artifacts are acquired, preserved, and interpreted to tell the powerful stories of America’s First Ladies. From research and conservation to exhibition planning, this program offers a deeper understanding of the care and thought behind the collections that connect the public to history. Read more

May 15, 2026

Conference: ‘250 Years of First Ladies Making History’

Registration is now open for the “250 Years of First Ladies Making History,” a conference celebrating presidential spouses, their contributions as part of America’s 250th anniversary of its founding.

The event, sponsored by FLARE and American University’s School of Public Affairs First Ladies Initiative will bring together scholars, teachers, institutions, first ladies staff, biographers, archivists, journalists, historians, students and anyone with an interest in U.S. presidential first ladies for a day-long conference at American University in Washington, D.C.

The conference will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time on May 15. Colleen Shogan, former Archivist of the United States and CEO of In Pursuit, will keynote the conference luncheon with an interview by Anita McBride, FLARE founding member, a Gould Award Recipient, co-director of In Pursuit and Director of the First Ladies Initiative at American University. Register here.

May 19, 2026

30th Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum

On May 19, 2026, the Carter Center’s Rosalynn Carter Mental Health and Caregiver Program will convene the 30th Annual Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum, a milestone gathering dedicated to advancing mental health policy, systems, and practice across the state of Georgia. Read more

Send calendar items, press releases and announcements to jtaylor@eastwingmagazine.com.

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A federal judge this week—again—ordered construction on the White House East Wing, which includes a massive ballroom, to stop despite arguments from the Trump administration that leaving the construction site “open” and “exposed” creates national security concerns for the residence, president and his family.

In Thursday’s order, U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon clarified the March 31 preliminary injunction that initially directed a halt to construction of the ballroom project. He said he excluded from the scope of the injunction “actions strictly necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House and its grounds, including the ballroom construction site,” and for the personal safety of the president and his staff. The judge’s action, though, affirms his initial ruling that the president should seek approval from Congress to build the White House Ballroom.

In a filing earlier this month, the Trump administration argued that continued construction of the underground construction could not be separated from the construction of the above-ground ballroom for security reasons, noting that the Secret Service’s ability to protect the president would be hampered and that part of the East Room in the Executive Residence is vulnerable and would require “some structure to be built to that level.”

The judge called the administration’s reading of the original court order unreasonable and incorrect.

“Defendants argue that the entire ballroom construction project, from tip to tail, falls within the safety-and-security exception and therefore may proceed unabated,” Leon said. “It is, to say the least, incredible, if not disingenuous, that Defendants now argue that my Order does not stop ballroom construction because of the safety-and-security exception!”

The judge noted that the exception for underground national security facilities does not include the proposed ballroom because the Trump administration, themselves, distinguished between below-ground and above-ground construction, stating that “the below-surface work is driven by national security concerns independent of the above-grade construction.”

In the administration’s filing, more was revealed about what would be built in the underground bunker. Included were bomb shelters, a hospital and medical facilities, protective missile resistant steel columns, drone-proof ceilings and bullet, ballistic and blast proof glass.

The judge clarified and amended the preliminary injunction specifying that below-ground construction may proceed, including the construction of any “top-secret excavations, bunkers, bomb-shelters, protective partitioning, military installations, and hospital and medical facilities,” as well as such above-ground construction strictly necessary to cover, secure, and protect such facilities.

The judge also permitted construction necessary to protect the project site and to protect the structural integrity of the White House complex, including waterproofing, water management, and resolving construction risks such as “uncovered rebar and exposed cables around the site.”

The injunction however, “does not permit above-ground construction of the proposed ballroom,” the judge said, explaining that national security is “not a blank check to proceed with otherwise unlawful activity, and belated assertions that the above-ground ballroom is “inseparable” from an array of security features … are not an occasion for this Court to reweigh the equities or reconsider the preliminary injunction!”

Leon went on to say that he had “no desire or intention to be dragooned into the role of construction manager.”

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President Trump’s privately-funded $400 million “East Wing Modernization Project” includes the 22,000-square-foot ballroom that will seat 1,000 people, a new Office of the First Lady suite, commercial kitchen, theater, two-story East Colonnade and outdoor garden area. The size of the ballroom spans nearly 300 feet long—the size of a football field—and has a ceiling height of about 40 feet.

The project has received overwhelming negative criticisms from the public saying the structure is too big. The East Wing of White House was demolished in October.

Earlier this month the National Capital Planning Commission approved the president’s design, a review that was considered the last hurdle to clear before above-ground work on the addition could begin. Leon’s decision ruled in favor of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit organization chartered by Congress that amended their lawsuit filed in December suing the president and other agencies of the government. The National Trust asserted in their lawsuit that ongoing construction of the White House ballroom is unlawful and asked the court to halt construction until the government complies with the law by going through the legally mandated review processes, including approval from Congress.

The president lashed out at Judge Leon (who was appointed by former President George W. Bush) in a social media post after his ruling Thursday calling him a “Trump Hating, Washington, D.C. District Court Judge, a man who has gone out of his way to undermine National Security, and to make sure that this Great Gift to America gets delayed, or doesn’t get built …” In that same social media post, Mr. Trump detailed the security features being built in the underground bunker.

Earlier this month, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Leon’s ruling, giving the Trump administration until Friday to pursue relief from the Supreme Court.

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The Weekly Wrap

The Weekly Wrap is a collection of headlines from the past week. Some publications have paywalls.

Variety

Jill Biden Bids $35,000 For Chance to Win ‘Heated Rivalry’ Walk-On Role During LGBTQ Benefit Auction

April 16, 2026 – Jill Biden is a “Heated Rivalry” fan. So much so that the former First Lady, just minutes ago during the live auction at the NYC LGBT Community Center’s Center Dinner, bid $35,000 to have a walk-on role in the queer hockey series’ second season along with a dinner with the cast, according to sources. However, she was outbid. Read more

Vogue

Michelle Obama Models the Perfect Spring Outfit Formula

April 16, 2026 – Michelle Obama is making the case for the more casual work outfit. Read more

East Wing Magazine

Melania Trump Is Back on Capitol Hill. This Time, Urging Lawmakers to Pass Reforms in Foster Care Programs.

April 15, 2026 – It was the heart-wrenching words of a young, Texas college student aging out of foster care who described the last moment with his mother that helped illustrate bipartisan legislative reforms that lawmakers, backed by First Lady Melania Trump, say are needed to offset the barriers young adults leaving foster care face. Read more

Vanity Fair

Queen Camilla and Melania Trump to Have Private Meeting During State Visit

April 15, 2026 – Despite tensions between the United States and the United Kingdom, King Charles is said to be “looking forward to the trip,” which will take place from April 27 to April 30. Read more

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IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson

Jimmy Kimmel on the State of Late Night, Pranks, and Growing Up Kimmel

April 15, 2026 – Late night host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel opens up about his childhood in Las Vegas, why he was fired from every job he had before late night, and how he built his show—and family—from the ground up. Plus, he shares a recent not-my-proudest-moment adventure in parenting. View here

USA Today

Melania Trump Is Back in Public Life. What Does She Want to Say?

April 15, 2026 – First Lady Melania Trump befuddled both critics and admirers over the timing of a news conference at the White House last week, where she denied any involvement with Jeffrey Epstein, seemingly seeking to distance herself from the convicted sex offender. Read more

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East Wing Magazine

Annual History Festival to Celebrate National First Ladies Day

April 15, 2026 – For more than 20 years, presidential descendants and nostalgic television and film actors have come together in the small town of Marshfield in rural southwest Missouri for a unique blending of American history and culture at the Missouri Cherry Blossom Festival.

And only recently has the festival included a daylong celebration of National First Ladies Day, which this year falls on April 25. Read more

CNN

Right-wing Media Criticizes Michelle Obama for Saying US in ‘Janky’ Era

April 15, 2026 – Former First Lady Michelle Obama has come under fire from the right after saying the U.S. is in a “janky” era under President Donald Trump. CNN anchor Abby Phillip says Trump hasn’t always had nice things to say about America. View here

People

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands Travel to U.S. Ahead of King Charles’ State Visit

April 13, 2026 – Before King Charles’ upcoming state visit to the U.S. this month, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed other royal guests. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands were greeted by the Trumps at the White House on Monday, April 13. Read more

MS Now

Hillary Clinton: Trump Must Be Held ‘Accountable’ for ‘Unhinged’ Social Media Posts

April 13, 2026 – Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton blasted Donald Trump’s “disgraceful” social media posts during an interview on Monday’s “Morning Joe.” She said the president must be held “accountable” for his behavior. Read more

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For more than 20 years, presidential descendants and nostalgic television and film actors have come together in the small town of Marshfield in rural southwest Missouri for a unique blending of American history and culture at the Missouri Cherry Blossom Festival.

And only recently has the festival included a daylong celebration of National First Ladies Day, which this year falls on April 25. The day is meant to honor the contributions of America’s first ladies by encouraging others to celebrate through acts of service.

New this year at the four-day event kicking off on April 23 and running through April 25, is an appearance at the 16th Annual State Dinner by Ashley Reagan, granddaughter of former President Ronald Reagan; an appearance on National Fi…

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Just as the media fervor around the Jeffrey Epstein files and the high-powered people mentioned in them started quieting down, Melania Trump’s surprising remarks from the White House Thursday demanding that lies linking her to Epstein stop fueled more discussion across news outlets and social media asking “Why now?”

The closest explanation Mrs. Trump provided in her nearly six-minute speech yesterday distancing herself from Epstein was her claim about lies tying her to the Americ…

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Whether it was creating politically-friendly parlor room soirees or safeguarding human rights in the aftermath of the Second World War or aiming to destigmatize treatment for addiction or attempting to shield youth from drug use altogether, America’s first ladies, while in the White House and thereafter, have left their mark on history.

But it hasn’t been until recent decades that the women’s stories have been reexplored, reexamined and recast, revealing the impact presidential spouses have had on shaping the nation. Many stories of U.S. first ladies will be shared as part of this year’s 250th anniversary celebration of America’s founding at a unique, upcoming conference open to the p…

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From the balcony of the White House Blue Room President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump alongside a costumed Easter Bunny welcomed visitors to the annual Easter Egg Roll Monday morning. As the president and first lady made their way through the crowds, Mr. Trump stopped on several occasions to answer press questions explaining his rationale for the war with Iran.

“We’re never going to let them have a nuclear weapon,” the president said.

Moments later when the first lady was asked what her message is for children in war zones, she responded, “All of this is happening for their future, so they will be safe in years to c…

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First Lady Melania Trump continued to push her message embracing artificial intelligence as a tool in education in an opinion piece she penned and that Fox News published on Saturday.

The first lady wrote about her objectives from the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit that took place at the U.S. Department of State and the White House last month with 45 spouses of global leaders. The gathering captured headlines after a humanoid robot walked into the White House East Room alongside Mrs. Trump.

“Artificial intelligence (AI) provides access to an elite education—the highest level of human knowledge—benefiting students, families and educators alike,” Mrs. Trump wrote in her opinion piece.

Durin…

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President Trump’s plans for a new 90,000-square-foot White House East Wing that includes a massive ballroom was approved Thursday by a Washington, D.C., design review commission two days after a federal judge ordered construction work on the site to stop until Congress allows it to move forward.

The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), a panel of 12 people, most who were recently appointed by the president, went ahead with the vote because the judge’s order does not impact the action of the commission, NCPC Chairman William Scharf said before the panel approved the final plan 8-1. Two commissioners voted present and one was absent.

“The injunction doesn’t speak to the NCPC review process,” Scharf sai…

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A little more than 25 years ago, then First Lady Hillary Clinton visited the National First Ladies Library & Museum to pay tribute to the efforts made in preserving the historic home of another former presidential spouse—Ida McKinley.

At the Canton, Ohio, national historic site now operated in partnership with the National Park Service, Clinton remarked about certain artifacts of McKinley’s—an inkwell she used to pen letters—and particularly “how the role of women—and first ladies—has grown and evolved over the past century, and how much we still needed to learn about their lives, their achievements, and their aspirations.”

In another historic moment on Tuesday, the National First Ladies Library & Museum (NFLLM) announced that First Lady Melania Trump and the four living former First Ladies Jill Biden, Michelle Ob…

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Work on President Trump’s proposed White House ballroom must stop and cannot continue unless Congress approves the project, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

The decision came just two days before the National Capital Planning Commission—a federal panel that reviews projects in Washington, D.C., and that had received thousands of negative comments against the project—was set to vote on the planned $400 million, 90,000-square-foot East Wing that included the 22,000-square-foot ballroom.

President Trump was swift in his response to United States District Judge Richard J. Leon’s decision when he told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday evening while signing an executive order meant to crack down on mail-in voting that he plans to appeal the judge’s decision and that he took issue wi…

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