Melania Trump Expresses Condolences After Kirk Shooting on 9/11 Day of Remembrance
Plus, the first lady is set for a royal visit with a special event planned with the Princess of Wales.
This week, First Lady Melania Trump accompanied her husband President Donald Trump to the September 11 observance at the Pentagon on Wednesday, 24 years after the terrorist attacks that took place in 2001. The service honored 184 people there and was commemorated by the president and first lady laying a wreath at the America’s Heroes Memorial. Remembrances also took place in New York City at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at Ground Zero, where the names of nearly 3,000 victims were read. And in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the victims of flight 93, which crashed in a field there, were also honored.
Later the same day, Mrs. Trump took to social media to express her condolences after the stunning political assassination of Charlie Kirk, a 31-year-old American conservative political activist and co-founder of Turning Point USA, who was shot dead on September 10 while speaking outdoors at Utah Valley University. Mrs. Trump’s husband narrowly escaped an assassination attempt at an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024, while running for his second term as president of the United States. That event prompted Mrs. Trump then to release a statement calling for Americans to: “Let us reunite. Now.”
And, next week, the first lady is expected to make a rare public appearance with Catherine, the Princess of Wales, at an event scheduled as part of a state visit by the Trumps with King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle.
Read all about it and more in this week’s The Weekly Wrap:
The Weekly Wrap
The Weekly Wrap is a collection of headlines from the past week. Some publications have paywalls.
East Wing Magazine
Remembering the Gracious Elegance of Lucy Winchester Breathitt
Sept. 12, 2025 — In the remaining hours of the Richard Nixon presidency on Aug. 8, 1974, White House Social Secretary Lucy Winchester sat on the floor in a room of the White House where she and members of her staff answered incoming phone calls from the American public. Each phone call would be followed up with a card from the Nixon family. This was a gesture that then First Lady Pat Nixon believed would mean a lot to the citizens who reached out during this troubled time. And, it was executed flawlessly by Winchester and her staff. Read more
FOX News
Melania Trump Pays Tribute to Charlie Kirk and the Family He Leaves Behind
Sept. 11, 2025 — First Lady Melania Trump offered her condolences to the Kirk family as Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk leaves behind his wife, Erika, a 3-year-old daughter and a 1-year-old son.
“Charlie’s children will be raised with stories instead of memories, photographs instead of laughter, and silence where their father’s voice should have echoed,” Melania Trump wrote on social media. “Charlie Kirk’s life should serve as a symbolic reminder that compassionate awareness elevates family, love, and country.” Read more
The White House
President Trump and the First Lady Attend a September 11th Observance Event
Sept. 11, 2025 — President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attend a September 11 observance event at the Pentagon. View here
CNN
Catherine, Princess of Wales to Host Melania Trump as UK Seeks Closer Ties to Trump Administration
Sept. 10, 2025 — Catherine, Princess of Wales is set to host First Lady Melania Trump for a special joint appearance at Windsor Castle’s Frogmore Gardens to highlight scouting next week, underscoring a broader diplomatic effort by the United Kingdom to cultivate close ties with the Trump administration. Read more
IMO With Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson
Natasha Rothwell on the Life You Build vs. the Love You Find (Live from Martha's Vineyard)
Sept. 10, 2025 — Natasha Rothwell joins the podcast for a live taping at Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival. She discusses her Emmy-nominated role in The White Lotus, finding her comedic path while living in Tokyo, and how being “neurospicy” has shaped her approach to life. Plus, Michelle and Craig play matchmaker. View here
Fortune
Film Director Spike Lee and Michelle Obama Slam Overnight Success as a Lie—and that Anyone Selling it Is Hiding a 'Dark' Backstory
Sept. 10, 2025 — Oscar-winning filmmaker Spike Lee knows first-hand that success doesn’t come easy—after early rejections from film schools, he spent decades fighting for his place in Hollywood. Now, speaking on Michelle Obama’s podcast, the Oscar award-winning star is warning Gen Z not to fall for the myth of overnight success, but instead to focus on perseverance and finding the career that gets them out of bed without hitting snooze. Read more
USA Today
Barron Trump Not Attending Classes in New York This Fall, Reports Say
Sept. 10, 2025 — Barron Trump, son of First Lady Melania Trump and President Donald Trump, is reportedly not returning to New York University's New York campus for his sophomore year of college as expected. Barron Trump, 19, attended NYU Stern School of Business in Manhattan for his freshman year. Although fall semester classes started Sept. 2, Barron has not yet been spotted in New York. The New York Post reported he is taking classes at NYU's Washington, D.C. campus and residing in the White House in the meantime. Read more
Obama Foundation
Michelle Obama’s Girls Opportunity Alliance Provides $500,000 in Support to Chicago Girl-Serving Organizations Around Back-to-School
Sept. 9, 2025 — As students across the city go back to school, former First Lady and Founder of the Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance, Michelle Obama, announced an additional commitment of $500,000 to empower and uplift girls in and out of the classroom. Read more
BBC
Drones to Police From the Skies During Trump Visit to Windsor
Sept. 9, 2025 — Drones used in a major policing operation during Donald Trump's second state visit to the UK will act as an "eye in the sky" around Windsor Castle, police have said. King Charles III and Queen Camilla are hosting the president and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, between 17 and 19 September. Read more
Ukraine News Agency
Zelenska Plans to Meet with Melania Trump During the UN General Assembly in NYC
Sept. 8, 2025 — First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska plans to meet with First Lady Melania Trump during the UN General Assembly, which will be held in New York at the end of September this year. Read more
Newsweek
Exclusive—Melania Trump’s Immigration Lawyer Condemns White House Visa Move
Sept. 7, 2025 — The White House's proposed changes to how H-1B visas would be allocated, have been condemned by immigration attorney Michael Wildes, who previously represented First Lady Melania Trump. Read more
NBC News/The Associated Press
Deported Venezuelan Moms Send Letter to Melania Trump to Help Reunite Them With Their Children
Sept. 5, 2025 — A group of Venezuelan mothers and grandmothers are appealing to First Lady Melania Trump to help them see their children and grandchildren again. Members of the group, backed by Venezuela's government, say they sent Trump a letter seeking her assistance last month.
One such mother told The Associated Press that her son, who is in Georgia, tells her, “‘Mom, I want to be with you. I want to return to my country with you.’” The mother wants Mrs. Trump to “put her hand on her heart and answer our letter.” Read more
Education Week
Melania Trump Issues an AI Challenge for Students. Will It Help Build AI Literacy?
Sept. 5, 2025 — The Presidential AI Challenge is “a nice way to avoid being top down and prescriptive about what people should be doing with AI, which it’s pretty early for,” said Jeremy Roschelle, the co-executive director of learning sciences research for the nonprofit Digital Promise.
Challenges like these are also opportunities for highlighting students’ and teachers’ creativity, Roschelle said. It can feature the positive tasks students are using AI for, which is “a counter story to the most common media story” that students are only using AI for cheating, he said. Read more