First Lady Melania Trump and Second Lady Usha Vance visited members of the U.S. Marine Corps along with their family members in North Carolina. The trip marks the first time Melania and Usha travelled together for a trip without their husbands. Melania and Usha were in North Carolina to deliver Thanksgiving care packages to Marines and their relatives.
Trump said of all service members stationed far from home during the holidays, speaking from a stage flanked by parked tanks and helicopters. Trump also stressed the growing importance of artificial intelligence to the military, noting that “technology is changing the art of war.” “Predictably, AI will alter war more profoundly than any technology since nuclear weapons,” she said, also noting that “we are moving from human operators to human overseers fast.”
Trump and Vance both recognized the just-passed 250th anniversary of the Marines, and the second lady said “military families are truly a model for our country and for my own family.” The vice president is a former Marine. Brigadier General Ralph J. Rizzo Jr. said visits by dignitaries like the first and second lady “matter because they show our families their service and sacrifices are seen and appreciated.”
Trump and Vance’s speeches followed school visits where they discussed AI with high schoolers and helped younger children with crafts, including making turkeys from cardstock and Elmer’s glue. They listened to a presentation by students in an advanced placement research class from the Lejeune High School “Devilpups,” recalling the Marine Corps’ “Devil Dog” nickname, and had discussions about technological development.