First Lady Melania Trump Reads Christmas Story to Hospitalized Children

Melania Trump is continuing the tradition of first ladies reading a story to children too sick to leave the hospital for the holidays.
Published: 12/6/2019, 4:53:37 PM EST
First Lady Melania Trump Reads Christmas Story to Hospitalized Children
First lady Melania Trump reacts as she receives gifts from patients at Children's National Hospital, Sammie Burley, left, and Declan McCahan, right, after reading a Christmas book to children at the hospital in DC.,on Dec. 6, 2019. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

WASHINGTON—Melania Trump is continuing the tradition of first ladies reading a story to children too sick to leave the hospital for the holidays.

The White House says the first lady toured a short-stay unit and a surgical unit at Children's National hospital in Washington on Friday.

She also visited with patients in a playroom and helped make snowflakes with them.

Mrs. Trump came down to the atrium afterward and sat with two patients in front of a towering Christmas tree to read “Oliver the Ornament Meets Belle."

The story is a sequel to the one she read at the hospital in 2018.

The tradition of a Christmastime visit with hospitalized children by a first lady dates back decades.

First Lady Melania Trump reads a Christmas book to children as she is seated between patients Sammie Burley (L) and Declan McCahan (R) at Children's National Hospital in Washington on Dec. 6, 2019. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo)
First Lady Melania Trump reads a Christmas book to children as she is seated between patients Sammie Burley (L) and Declan McCahan (R) at Children's National Hospital in Washington on Dec. 6, 2019. Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo