First Lady Melania Announces Her 'Be Best' Focus On Children's Well-Being
WASHINGTON, DC (CBSNewYork) -- First lady Melania Trump announced her "Be Best" initiative on Monday during a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House, putting her focus on the overall health and empowerment of children.
Trump's platform includes three pillars to "Be Best" physically and emotionally: well-being, social media use and addressing opioid abuse.
"Together, I believe we should strive to provide kids with the tools they need to cultivate their social and emotional health," she said. "With those values as a solid foundation, our kids will be better equipped to deal with many of the egos in our world today."
Melania Trump referenced letters from children who said they had been bullied or attacked on social media.
"I'm here with one goal, helping children and our next generation," she said. "And I believe that if we all come together, we can start to effect positive change for our children."
During the 2016 campaign and over the course of her husband's presidency, she's already championed combatting cyber bullying as one of her first platforms as first lady.
"Social media can be both positively and negatively effect on our children. But too often, it's used in negative ways," she said during her speech Monday.
She's also brought focus to the deadly impacts of opioid addiction on young children and infants, and in a speech before the United Nations last year, she called on world leaders to "step up" to improve the lives of children.
The first lady's appearance came as her approval rating soars to 57 percent, while only 27 percent have a negative view in a CNN poll.
"Melania, thank you very much. That was a truly beautiful and heartfelt speech. That's the way she feels," her husband said.
The president added a few public displays of affection amidst rumors of a chill between the two in light of the Stormy Daniels scandal, CBS2's Dick Brennan reported.
Meanwhile, the White House blasted a Washinton Post report suggesting the first couple spends little or no time together.
"That is an outrageous and ridiculous claim. The first lady lives here at the White House, we see her regularly, and I think that's something that belongs in tabloid gossip and not on the front pages of the Washington Post," Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said. "I hope that they'll do better next time."
