First Lady Melania Trump visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, on Thursday in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which will be observed on Saturday.
Trump visited the museum ahead of the holiday to “pay respect to the six million Jews lost in the Holocaust and the millions of other victims of Nazi persecution,” according to a statement from the First Lady’s office.
Mrs. Trump remarked, “My thoughts and prayers are with the people whose lives and families were broken by the horrors of the Holocaust. Yet it is also through our shared humanity that we come together now in commemoration, strength, and love. My heart is with you, and we remember.”
Holocaust Memorial Museum Director Sara Bloomfield accompanied the First Lady on a tour of the museum that “recounted the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany from 1933 through 1939, the evolution of the party through the 1940s and its policies toward the Jewish people, and the liberation of Nazi concentration camps in 1945 by the Allied forces,” read the statement from the First Lady’s Office.
The final stop on the tour was the Hall of Remembrance. At the Eternal Flame Memorial, Mrs. Trump participated in a moment of silence, after which a candle was lit at the Prayer Wall.
Stephanie Grisham, communications director for the First Lady, tweeted a photo from the tour:
Mrs. Trump was originally scheduled to travel to the Davos World Economic Forum with her husband, according to CNN, but communications director Grisham later told the outlet that due to “scheduling and logistical issues,” her plans changed.
After visiting the museum early Thursday, the First Lady left for West Palm Beach, Florida. The museum trip was unannounced, as was the trip to Florida.
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