Overview
- Sierra Burns, a beneficiary of the Melania Trump Foster Youth to Independence Program, and Everest Nevraumont, a 10-year-old AI-education advocate from Austin, sat in the First Lady’s Box for the 2026 address, the White House said.
- The Office of the First Lady presented the guests as exemplars of the BE BEST Fostering the Future agenda focused on opportunity through education, technology, and support for foster youth.
- President Donald Trump invited a separate set of guests reflecting his priorities, a reported break from past practice that underscores the first lady’s independent public role.
- Over the past year, Melania Trump led a Presidential Executive Order on Fostering the Future and secured $30 million through HUD to expand housing support for foster youth.
- Her team launched the Presidential AI Challenge, ran a K‑12 AI workshop reaching about 2,600 schools, built a university partner network, and a March 24–25 summit to formally launch Fostering the Future Together is reported as planned.