US first lady welcomed in Belgium with music and fashion

French First lady Brigitte Macron, left, and US First Lady Melania Trump smile ahead of a NATO spouses dinner at Jubilee Museum in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. NATO leaders gathered in Brussels Wednesday for a two-day summit to discuss Russia, Iraq and their mission in Afghanistan. (Stephanie Lecocq/Pool Photo via AP)

By VANESSA GERA, AP
BRUSSELS

U.S. first lady Melania Trump returned to the international stage Wednesday as she mingled with the spouses of America’s closest allies over classical music, fashion and chocolate.

[post_ads]As President Donald Trump harangued Germany and other allies at a NATO summit in Brussels, his wife chatted amiably with some of their spouses at a music conservatory in a wooded park in Waterloo, near the Belgian capital.

There, she and 10 other spouses were given a tour of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, a training center for gifted young musicians housed in a modernistic glass building.

Mrs. Trump, 48, wore a navy blue sleeveless Calvin Klein calf-length dress with white and green detail on one collarbone and white Christian Louboutin heels with their trademark red soles. Klein is an all-American fashion house, but its chief creative officer, Raf Simons, is Belgian.

U.S. first lady Melania Trump waits for other spouses prior to a group photo at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, Belgium, during a spouses program on the sidelines of the NATO summit on Wednesday, July 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

In the evening, she changed into a sleeveless white Elie Saab cocktail dress for a dinner at the Art and History Museum at the Cinquantenaire, a landmark city park.
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Neither of the Trumps took a drink as they chatted with other heads of state at a cocktail reception, only hours after the U.S. president accused Germany of being “captive to Russia” for buying natural gas from that country and chided other allies for their levels of defense spending. The president does not drink alcohol.

Holding hands, the Trumps next walked up the steps of the museum, where the president joined leaders for a working dinner and the first lady joined a separate dinner for spouses.

President Donald Trump, right, and first lady Melania Trump, left, talk with German Chancellor Angela Merkel second from the left and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

The trip marked the former model’s return to the international stage after she dropped out of public sight in May for nearly a month, including five days in the hospital following surgery for a benign kidney condition. Her husband later told reporters that she had had a “big operation” and was under doctors’ orders not to fly for a month.

Her office clarified that only international travel was forbidden for that period of time, and the first lady did not accompany the president to Canada for an earlier world leaders’ summit or to Singapore for his historic one-on-one meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, both in the first half of June.

US First Lady Melania Trump smiles ahead of a NATO spouses dinner at Jubilee Museum in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. NATO leaders gathered in Brussels Wednesday for a two-day summit to discuss Russia, Iraq and their mission in Afghanistan. (Stephanie Lecocq/Pool Photo via AP)

There was no word on how Mrs. Trump would spend her second day in Brussels. The couple travels next to Britain, where planned engagements include tea with Queen Elizabeth, and to Helsinki, Finland, where the U.S. president is to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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As the spouses arrived at the music academy in the early afternoon, they were greeted by Amelie Derbaudrenghien, the partner of Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, and Ingrid Schulerud, the wife of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

U.S. first lady Melania Trump, center, waves as she prepares to listen to a concert at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, Belgium, during a spouses program on the sidelines of the NATO summit on Wednesday, July 11, 2018. At right is Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron and at left is Amelie Derbaudrenghien, the partner of Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel.(AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

They were then escorted into a music auditorium with tall glass windows offering views into the woods behind the school for performances of Tchaikovsky’s Valse Scherzo and music by Hubay and Piazzolla.

[post_ads]During an intermission they posed for a group photo, viewed a display of hats by Belgian designer Fabienne Delvigne and were offered delicacies created by Herman Van Dender, a pastry maker and chocolatier who is the official supplier to the Belgian royal house.

Mrs. Trump sat between French first lady Brigitte Macron, who was dressed in white, and Derbaudrenghien, in vibrant yellow, during the concert. Other participating first ladies included Emine Erdogan of Turkey and Mojca Stropnik of Slovenia, Mrs. Trump’s native country. Gauthier Destenay, the husband of Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, was the only man in the group.

At one point during the concert, Mrs. Trump and some of the others applauded prematurely. Catching themselves, they smiled and kept on listening.

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Associated Press writer Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.

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This story has been corrected to show the last name of Luxembourg’s prime minister is Bettel, not Better.