To launch the “Presidential AI Challenge,” First Lady Melania Trump kept things simple dressing in an all-American outfit.

In a video announcing the competition for K-12 students that was released Tuesday, FLOTUS sported a navy Michael Kors blazer and a white Gap T-shirt. That high-low combo still delivered a double dose of designer fashion since the celebrity-approved Zac Posen is Gap’s creative director. Trump’s blue and white look is a quick, no-brainer, what’s-in-the-closet choice, as many shoppers across the globe can attest.

While the Princess of Wales Kate Middleton is known to pair designer labels with high-street ones, the Slovenian-born former model tends to favor European designer houses like Dolce & Gabbana, whose suit she donned for her 2025 official White House portrait. Compared to FLOTUS’ standard polished attire, Tuesday’s choice was more casual and affordable, considering that similar Gap tees were marked down to $12 online Tuesday afternoon.

Coincidentally, the San Francisco-based Gap is within driving range of AI-dense communities like Menlo Park, Mountain View and Santa Clara, Calif., where DeepMind, OpenAI and Nvidia are respectively rooted. As of March, California was home to 32 of the leading 50 AI companies worldwide, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.

In her message, which was shared via her X account, Trump touted her audiobook “Melania” without naming the title. The 55-year-old said, ”As someone who created an AI-powered audio book and championed online safety through the Take It Down Act, I’ve seen firsthand the promise of this powerful technology.”

In May, Trump wore a Prada ensemble and spiky Christian Louboutin stilettos for President Donald Trump‘s signing of legislation, which addresses nonconsensual intimate imagery, or “revenge porn,” and artificial intelligence deepfakes that are posted online and to social media.

In her video message Tuesday, Melania Trump said, “Now I pass the torch of innovation to you. Just as America once led the world into the skies, we are poised to lead again. This time in the age of AI. The president’s National Artificial Intelligence Challenge invites every student in America from kindergarten through 12th grade to unleash their imagination and to showcase the spirit of American innovation. Our educators will guide and empower you through this process to build a brighter, stronger future for us all.”

Through the Presidential AI Challenge, students and teachers are encouraged to create AI-based solutions for community challenges while fostering AI interest and competency. The early training is meant to demystify the technology and prepare the next generation for the AI-assisted workforce to lead to greater scientific innovation and economic achievement.

Meanwhile, letters seem to be the preferred accessory for FLOTUS and two other first ladies. A social media debate unfolded in recent days about FLOTUS’ signature on a letter to Russian Vladimir Putin that appealed to him to consider the loss of innocence among children amidst the strife between Russia and Ukraine. The letter was delivered to him by the U.S. president in Alaska earlier this month. After the letter was shared on social media by U.S. attorney general Pam Bondi, some questioned if the signature was done by autopen and others suggested that it was too similar to her husband’s.

In turn, Ukraine First Lady Olena Zelenska had a letter of thanks for FLOTUS delivered by her husband Volodymyr Zelenskyy via the U.S. president. That exchange may have inspired Turkey’s first lady Ermine Erdoğan to pen a letter to FLOTUS appealing to her to advocate for the children in Gaza, as she had done so for Ukraine.

Political wives have had a long tradition of using letters to spotlight people and issues that are neglected in formal diplomacy, according to Leslie Irvine, professor emerita at the University of Colorado Boulder. Abigail Adams, for example, famously made an early appeal for women’s rights when she urged her husband John to “remember the ladies,” she said.

Trump’s, Zelesnka’s and Erdoğan’s recent letters illustrate the soft power of first ladies in global politics, Irvine said. “The gesture of writing allows them to enter the diplomatic conversation in a way that feels legitimate yet non-threatening.”