NEW YORK — First lady Melania Trump echoed her husband’s desire for countries to be less reliant on the U.S. during a reception Wednesday for the spouses of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.
Trump, who is working with the United States Agency for International Development to prepare for her first major solo trip abroad, lauded the organization for “working with developing countries around the world to help them with their journey to self-reliance.”
“Because of the many successful partnerships they have built in both the public and private sectors, USAID is able to maximize their impact and work towards a time when there will no longer be a need for foreign assistance,” she said Wednesday in New York. “When more people have opportunity, and when societies are freer and more democratic, our own country is safer and stronger.”
Trump plans to visit Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt when she travels abroad in October.
Each nation has worked with USAID by educating women about healthcare, increasing access to education, or HIV prevention, she said.
In remarks to world leaders on Tuesday, President Trump rejected the idea of globalism, while touting “America’s sovereignty.”
“We reject the ideology of globalism, and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism,” Trump said. “We will never surrender America’s sovereignty to an unelected, unaccountable, global bureaucracy.”
Trump suggested the U.S. would sharply decrease its foreign aid, telling foreign dignitaries he had ordered Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to review whether countries that receive aide from the U.S. share the same values.
Trump also attacked international institutions, including the United Nations human rights council, which he called “a grave embarrassment,” and the International Criminal Court, saying it “has no jurisdiction, no legitimacy, no authority.”
