African children welcome first lady

Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya

Melania Trump briefly lost her footing when a baby elephant startled her with a sudden move, but the first lady was anything but out of step when children at an orphanage welcomed her to their home with African song and dance.

It didn’t take long for the typically reserved U.S. first lady to dive fully into the moment.

Trump arrived at The Nest orphanage Friday after helping feed baby elephants, still clad in the riding pants and tall brown boots she had worn on a safari. A group of children who live at the orphanage and had been waiting for their American visitor broke into song and dance.

With a child’s hand clasped in each of hers, Trump led the group up a walkway toward the home for orphaned infants, sashaying to the music as she approached a bank of waiting news cameras.

The first lady was similarly immersed in the moment earlier at Nairobi National Park, where she had gone early Friday to highlight elephant conservation.

Trump seemed reticent at first, but she eventually stepped down from the platform she was standing on to take a large milk bottle with a big red nipple and feed some of the orphaned elephants being raised at the park a few miles outside of downtown Nairobi.

Soon she was petting and stroking the elephants, smiling and laughing and having a good time.

Her focus on saving elephants seemed at odds with policies put forth by her husband, President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration recently decided to again allow Americans to import the body parts of African elephants shot for sport.