Melania Trump forges ahead as first lady with Africa trip

WASHINGTON (AP) — With a wave and tweet, first lady Melania Trump headed for Africa today on her first big solo international trip, aiming to make child well-being the focus of a five-day, four-country tour that will take her to every corner of the vast and impoverished continent.

The first lady opens her first-ever visit to Africa on Tuesday in Ghana in the West, followed by stops in Malawi in the South, Kenya in the East and Egypt in the Northeast. She departed Washington today with a rare wave to the press corps and an enthusiastic tweet: "We are taking off for #Africa! So looking forward to visiting #Ghana #Malawi #Kenya & #Egypt as I take #BeBest international. #FLOTUSinAfrica2018."

Mrs. Trump's first extended turn on the world stage outside the shadow of President Donald Trump could still be complicated by her husband, who has spoken of the continent in impolite and even vulgar terms.

That leaves the first lady with some fence-mending duties.

"She's got some heavy lifting to do on this trip and it's a little bit unfair because that's not what a first lady's trip should be about," said Judd Devermont, the Africa program director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

First ladies usually practice a softer form of diplomacy, showing interest in a host nation's schools, hospitals and arts programs, and avoiding thornier issues.

Joshua Meservey, a senior Africa policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, countered by noting the "positive engagements" the president has had with some African heads of state, including President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, who met with Trump at the White House in late August. Trump also met last week in New York with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt.

Meservey also noted the U.S. spends considerable amounts on public health and development initiatives in Malawi, which is among the world's least-developed countries.

"I think the U.S.-Africa relationship is much bigger than the president's comments, and it's been going on for decades and decades," he said. "Frankly, I suspect the vast majority of average Africans have not heard of any of those dust-ups. It's very much an elite preoccupation."

"Africans are, generally speaking, very gracious hosts" who will "roll out the red carpet and do their absolute best to be hospitable," Meservey said.