Melania Trump is used to turning heads when she walks into a room, but this time she had to share the spotlight with a machine.
At a White House event focused on education and technology on Wednesday, March 25, the First Lady of the United States made a striking entrance alongside a humanoid robot.
As visuals from the event went viral on social media, user reactions ranged from predicting that Melania was about to become a meme to discussions that the droid could be a stand-in for her husband.
“The joke just wrote itself,” one said, while another added, “About time she got a new man.”
Melania Trump and the robot wrapped up White House’s latest tech summit
Image credits: The White House
Tuesday marked the second and final day of the Fostering the Future Together summit at the White House, where leaders from 45 countries and representatives from 28 tech companies had gathered.
Melania, in an off-white suit and her signature stiletto heels, walked the East Room red carpet with her mechanical companion, Figure 03, developed by California startup Figure AI.
Image credits: ABC News
While the first lady paused near the entrance, the robot moved forward, positioned itself at the center of the room, and began addressing the crowd.
“Thank you, First Lady Melania Trump, for inviting me to the White House. It is an honor to be at Fostering the Future Together’s global coalition inaugural meeting,” the droid said.
Image credits: Heather Diehl/Getty Images
It then went on to greet the attendees in English before switching to multiple languages.
“I am grateful to be part of this historic movement to empower children with technology and education,” the robot added, before concluding with a simple, “Welcome.”
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“It’s fair to state you are my first American-made humanoid guest in the White House,” Melania quipped after its exit.
She went on to speak alongside other first spouses, like France’s first lady Brigitte Macron, about the importance of balancing technology with safety to equip young people with practical skills.
Online, attention shifted away from the message and toward comparing Melania with the robot, among other criticisms
Image credits: Heather Diehl/Getty Images
“The robot showed more personality,” one remarked, while another added, “It can pronounce the languages it is using correctly.”
“They walk the same,” a third noted.
“She is leveling up,” said a fourth, referencing the U.S. president, with a fifth echoing the sentiment, asking, “Is this the new and better Trump for her?”
“We are in a bizarre world,” a separate user said to describe Melania and the robot’s collective appearance.
“Is this a clown show?” the next asked.
“The robot looks terrifying,” someone else commented.
Melania Trump’s appearance with the robot followed a confidant’s claims about her “true personality”
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Tham Kannalikham, a New York-based interior designer who has been working with Melania since 2017, shared with Daily Mail on Wednesday that the first lady frequently sends her collaborators letters.
While working together on designing a tennis pavilion at the White House’s South Grounds in 2020, Kannalikham recalled mentioning to Melania, “almost in passing,” that a young sculptor who had contributed her talents to the project was soon to undergo surgery.
Image credits: ABC News
“Mrs. Trump paused and quietly asked for her address,” Kannalikham recalled.
A few days later, the sculptor rang the designer to inform her that she had received a letter from Melania.
Image credits: The White House
“Words cannot express this feeling,” the sculptor reportedly told Kannalikham about the gesture, with the latter adding in her Daily Mail interview, “It is simply who Mrs. Trump is.”
Image credits: The White House
Kannalikham went on to describe Melania as “a woman carrying the weight of public responsibilities” who, in the midst of everything, thinks in “deliberate and tender ways.”
According to her, Melania’s exchanges with those she works with are “not brief or obligatory,” as she “gives her time fully” to those she speaks to.
“They both have the same expression on their face,” a netizen said about FLOTUS and the robot
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