"Where Is Our First Lady?" Trump Praises Melania During UN Speech, She Waves From Audience

During his address at the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, US President Donald Trump broke from his formal United Nations speech for a light-hearted tribute to the First Lady Melania Trump. He publicly thanked her for her humanitarian work and jokingly asked where she was seated. Trump looked around the hall and asked, "Where is our First Lady? She's around here someplace." After briefly looking around for her, Trump thanked the First Lady and said she had "worked so hard". 

The camera then turned to Melania, who smiled and waved as members of the US delegation seated near her gestured toward Trump. The US President also praised Melania for her role in global diplomacy, pointing to her appearance earlier this year at the UN Security Council. Trump said she had become the first US First Lady to preside over a meeting of the Security Council.

Trump then highlighted Melania's "Fostering the Future Together" initiative, a global coalition focused on improving children's access to education and technology while addressing online safety. The initiative was launched during the 2025 UN General Assembly and has since expanded internationally.

He said, "Thank you very much, First Lady. Great job. This year, she also became the only First Lady in history to preside over a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, and she did it very well. And today, she's hosting a gathering of Fostering the Future Together, which has nearly 60 members to help improve the lives of young people all over the world. So, Melania, thank you very much. Great job. Great job you're doing."

Watch the video here:

🇺🇸 Trump briefly lost track of Melania 😂

“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘺? 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦.”

Melania: 👋

Nothing like looking for your wife in front of the entire United Nations.

Writer: Lynnpic.twitter.com/R7Tf6vWQP2

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 22, 2026

The White House has said Melania's efforts have helped facilitate multiple family reunifications, with 34 children reunited with their families as of August.

The White House said on September 22 that Melania had reconvened members of the coalition during this year's UN General Assembly. The initiative now includes representatives from nearly 60 countries, while new partnerships have also been announced with technology companies including Google, Amazon, Adobe, Intel, Starlink and Zoom.

Melania's work on the Russia-Ukraine issue has involved communication with both governments over the return of children separated from their families. The White House has described several rounds of reunification facilitated by her office, including a fifth group in July and additional reunifications in August.