South Korea Joins Melania Trump’s New Global Technology Initiative
The agreement is described as the 'first of its kind' as part of the first lady’s international coalition.
South Korea has joined First Lady Melania Trump’s “Fostering the Future Together” initiative as part of a new Technology Prosperity Deal with the United States, the White House announced on Thursday.
The agreement is “the first of its kind” as part of the first lady’s new global coalition that was launched during the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September. The coalition brings together a shared commitment by first spouses of heads of governments from around the world to promote the responsible use of advanced technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) to support children, educators, and parents while protecting youth from online dangers.
“I am proud that the Republic of Korea is joining my global coalition to empower children through the promotion of technology, innovation, and education,” Mrs. Trump said in a statement. “As a longstanding leader in technological advancement, the Republic of Korea will offer invaluable insights to the participating nations in the Fostering the Future Together initiative.”
Developed by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in coordination with the Office of the First Lady, and signed during President Trump’s visit to Asia this week, the U.S.-Korea Technology Prosperity Deal formalizes cooperation on AI and emerging technology. The tech deal includes language reflecting the first lady’s global initiative, which promotes the responsible use of advanced technology to support children, educators, and parents while protecting youth from online dangers, the White House said.
Mrs. Trump’s initiative is noted in a bullet point listed in the first area of cooperation in the deal under “Accelerating AI Adoption and Innovation.” There, the deal states South Korea and the United States would collaborate by “engaging in discussions to promote education, innovation, and technology for children to flourish in the digital era and prepare future generations for the workplace of tomorrow, including by participating in the Fostering the Future Together global initiative established by First Lady Melania Trump.”
In a brief three-and-a-half-minute speech during the UNGA in New York City in September, Mrs. Trump invited spouses of global leaders to not only talk about online safety issues, but to also enhance the well-being of children through the promotion of education, innovation and technology.
“Nations benefit from advancements in technology saving lives, expanding access to knowledge, connecting people, and of course, safety,” she said at the time, underscoring that safety multiplies innovation.
Initial phases of the coalition, according to a press release, will focus on prioritization of personal development of children; unification of efforts surrounding children, technology, and education; collaboration with the private sector to provide access to innovative education technology, including artificial intelligence, robotics, and blockchain; and an exchange of solutions encompassing advantages and risks of artificial intelligence.
Mrs. Trump’s first and only issue-oriented speech of the 2016 campaign was about the need to stop cyber bullying and to protect children from the negative impacts of social media, Tammy Vigil, an associate professor in the College of Communication at Boston University, told East Wing Magazine in September. And, one of Mrs. Trump’s pillars of her Be Best initiative dealt with the internet, social media concerns and children’s well-being.
“She seems to be sincerely interested in the topic and has established a track record of drawing attention to it, though it is unclear what the tangible outcomes have been,” Vigil, author of Melania & Michelle: First Ladies in a New Era, said at the time.
The spouses of global leaders interested in participating will work with their respective national governments to assess the different technologies available, according to the initiative. Ideally, they’ll discuss how best to implement innovative technologies to create educational opportunities for the children of their countries, to train educators and parents, and to design advanced learning environments for the future.
The coalition members will be invited by the first lady to the White House at an inaugural meeting in 2026 to discuss the issues in a forum for members who have begun implementing their commitments to provide insight and recommendations about advantages, risks and potential policy ideas.
Reports Piece Together More Information on the White House East Wing Demolition
It’s been more than 10 days since the demolition of the White House East Wing started and it appears that First Lady Melania Trump had concerns about the project, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week.
Mrs. Trump “privately raised concerns about tearing down the East Wing and told associates it wasn’t her project,” according to administration officials attributed in the article.
Mr. Trump announced plans in August for a 90,000-square-foot expansion of the East Wing that would house the White House Ballroom, a formal dining area for 900 people, and modernize the Office of the First Lady and other work spaces there. The estimated construction costs have risen since then. Initial estimates were $200 million and are now estimated at $300 million. Mr. Trump has said that he’s raised $350 million for the project that is not taxpayer funded, but paid for through private donations, according to the White House.
On Tuesday, a smattering of people lingered around the perimeter of the White House, which has been extensively fenced off by the Secret Service. The area was notably quiet, something that some local business people attributed to the government shutdown. But that did not keep some out-of-state visitors from trying to get a glimpse of the demolition site that is largely obstructed by trees, fencing and other buildings.
From a distance, though, heavy machinery could be seen in use, other machines could be seen towering over the demolition site and large dump trucks were spotted leaving the grounds.
On Wednesday, White House Historical Association (WHHA) President Stewart McLaurin told The Associated Press that as the leader of the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, he did not take a position on the teardown.
The job of the WHHA “is not to make happen, or to keep from happening—but to document what does happen,” he told The Associated Press.
In fact, the association, according to McLaurin in the report, had been working with the White House to prepare for the changes and added that in late summer the staff of the East Wing had moved out. The White House curator and their staff carefully removed, catalogued and stored the art, the official portraits of former first ladies and furnishing from the East Wing, he told The Associated Press.
The association worked with the curator and chief usher to 3-D scan “every room, space, nook and cranny of the east wing, whether it was molding or hinges or door knobs … was captured,” McLaurin said in the report, adding that the information will be used for a future exhibit or to teach the history of that space.
And as far as that Military Office time capsule first reported on in East Wing Magazine: It was created in the Military Office of the East Wing during the George H.W. Bush administration and was initially placed on bookshelves installed at the time. Its contents included a copy of that day’s The Washington Post and the Early Bird daily news compendium from the Pentagon; a copy of the president’s schedule for that day; a full list of the president’s military aides beginning with those who first served President George Washington all the way to President George H.W. Bush; and the business cards of the 13 members of the Military Office, writes Chris Kelley Cimko (who has held senior positions on Capitol Hill, the 1989 presidential transition, the Department of Defense and as an executive of leading global public relations firms) in her personal Substack.
It is unclear right now whether the time capsule was included in the items removed by the White House curator.
Read more reports on the White House East Wing demolition in The Weekly Wrap.
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