First lady Melania Trump is getting her turn in the spotlight Tuesday night as she and President Donald Trump host French President Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Macron for a White House state dinner.
The first lady planned all the details for the first such event of the Trump administration — from the menu to the dinner plates to the evening’s entertainment. The first lady selected a menu of rack of lamb and nectarine tart, along with after-dinner entertainment provided by the Washington National Opera.
Tuesday’s dinner is a relatively low-key affair compared with the first state dinner from previous administrations, with few celebrities and big Washington names on the guest list. Among those joining the main guests of honor are Apple CEO Tim Cook, who brought as his guest former Obama EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, statesman Henry Kissinger, Chief Justice John Roberts, media mogul Rubert Murdoch, managing director of the IMF Christine Lagarde and the president’s daughter and son-in-law Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
The dinner capped a larger itinerary of ceremonial events in Macron’s honor on Tuesday. Macron was welcomed to the White House Tuesday morning with a traditional military arrival ceremony involving 500 members of the military, and complete with a 21-gun salute, cannon-firings and patriotic music.
The dinner comes after Trump and Macron called for more talks with Iran, but gave no clear sign if Trump will pull the U.S. out of the existing nuclear deal with Tehran.
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