WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - First lady Melania Trump will chair a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Monday as the U.S. takes over the monthly rotating presidency, the White House said.
Her office said in a statement on Wednesday she will emphasize education as a way to advance tolerance and world peace in her remarks at the meeting, titled "Children, Technology, and Education in Conflict."
A U.N. spokesperson said it would be the first time a spouse of any serving world leader has chaired a meeting of the 15-member Security Council.
U.S. President Donald Trump has been a vocal critic of the United Nations since his first White House term, saying the 193-member world body was ineffective and needed reforms. The United States is billions of dollars behind in its contributions to the U.N. budget.
Asked at a regular briefing if Melania Trump's appearance was a positive sign for U.N.-U.S. relations, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said it showed "the importance that the United States feels towards the Security Council and the subject at hand," referring to the meeting's agenda.
The first lady has stayed out of the public eye for much of Trump's presidencies but has been an advocate for children's causes in the past, including by writing a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2025 calling for the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russia during the war.
She was the subject and executive producer of a big-budget documentary film released in January.
The president struck a more conciliatory tone toward the U.N. last week at the first meeting of his Board of Peace, an initiative he said aims to resolve conflicts globally but one that many world leaders worry was designed to replace the United Nations.
"The Board of Peace is going to almost be looking over the United Nations and making sure it runs properly," Trump said on February 19. "We're going to strengthen up the United Nations. We're going to make sure its facilities are good.... We're going to help them money-wise."
The United Nations last week said it received about $160 million this month of the more than $4 billion in U.S. dues arrears to the United Nations. That amount appears to have grown substantially during Trump's presidency.
Historically, the U.S. has been the biggest contributor to the U.N. budget. But under Trump, it has refused to make mandatory payments to regular and peacekeeping budgets and slashed voluntary funding to U.N. agencies.
The Security Council is the U.N. body charged with maintaining international peace and security and has the power to make legally binding decisions.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu, Trevor Hunnicutt and David Brunnstrom; editing by Michelle Nichols, Chizu Nomiyama and Cynthia Osterman)
