Melania Trump and Hope Hicks cut radically different silhouettes as they joined an official dinner in Tokyo on Monday night.
The first lady, 47, and the 29-year-old White House communications director attended a state banquet hosted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, to mark Donald Trump’s visit.
Both women are traveling with President Trump for his 12-day trip around Asia, which will also see him visit South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Official: Melania Trump cut a glamorous silhouette as she joined a state banquet in Tokyo on Monday night, amid her and her husband’s 12-day trip around Asia
Glamorous: The first lady, 47, donned a bright red, floor-length gown with short sleeves on the occasion. She paired it with a low hairdo and diamond earrings
Aide: Hope Hicks, the 29-year-old White House communications director, also appeared at the state dinner hosted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Akasaka Palace
Melania donned a bright red, floor-length gown with short sleeves on the occasion.
She paired the glamorous number with a low hairdo and diamond earrings, completing her outfit with a smoky eye.
Hope, meanwhile, went a completely different route, and opted for a black tuxedo worn on top of a white, button-up shirt, along with a black bowtie.
The former Trump Organization employee, who has in the past worked inside the Trump Tower and helped Ivanka Trump grow her fashion line, wore her long hair down in a blowout.
President Trump, 71, who is on his first official visit in Asia, stuck to his classics with a black suit, though he did trade his trademark red tie for a blue one.
Earlier on Monday, Melania tried her hand at Japanese calligraphy at a Tokyo elementary school.
She visited the Kyobashi Tsukiji school with her Japanese counterpart, Akie Abe. About 300 children welcomed them with a school song.
Pair: Melania arrived along with her husband during the dinner, which occurred on the second day of President Trump’s first official visit to Asia
Change: President Trump, 71, stuck to his classics with a black suit, though he did trade his trademark red tie for a blue one
Greetings: Melania smiled as she settled for the state banquet hosted to mark her and her husband’s visit in Japan
Lost in thought: The first lady looked pensive during the event, which happened on the first stop of their trip around Asia
Sartorial: Hope cut a radically different silhouette with a black tuxedo worn on top of a white, button-up shirt, along with a black bowtie
Then, Melania wrote the first character of the Japanese word for ‘peace,’ as Akie wrote the second.
After Melania’s first stroke, a girl sitting next to her advised her to hold the brush vertically and explained the order of the strokes.
‘Yes?’ Melania asked later as she turned to her instructor. The student gave a nod of approval, smiling.
The two first ladies, both wearing navy blue dresses, posed for photos, shook hands and exchanged high fives with the school children.
The children were shy at first, but as Melania lowered herself and greeted them, many hands rose up, trying to hold her hands.
School principal Takefumi Ukitsu said the school was chosen for the visit because it picked America as part of a study project for Tokyo’s 2020 Olympics.
Visit: Earlier on Monday, Melania tried her hand at the elementary Kyobashi Tsukiji school with her Japanese counterpart, Akie Abe (both are pictured with students)
Learning: In a calligraphy class, Akie looked on as Melania wrote the first character for the word ‘peace’ in Japanese kanji. Akie later wrote the second one
On Sunday, the two first ladies heard about the history of cultivated pearls at a jewelry shop in downtown Tokyo while President Trump chased golf balls with Prime Minister Abe.
Akie greeted the first lady with a bow as she arrived at the Mikimoto Pearl flagship store in Tokyo’s glitzy Ginza shopping district. The two first ladies had a brief chat after posing for photos in the store’s VIP lounge.
Two ‘ama’ pearl divers in their traditional white costumes, their goggles pulled up on top of their heads and carrying the baskets they would use to collect the pearl oysters, joined them as a store manager explained different types of pearls and how they are gathered and assembled into jewelry.
The first ladies toured the shop and posed with staff during the brief visit. Melania, a former fashion model who once sold her own line of jewelry on the QVC television shopping channel, made no purchases.
Mikimoto’s founder, Kokichi Mikimoto, is said to have invented cultured pearls in 1893. The shop in Ginza opened in 1899. The company is the official provider of jewelry to Japan’s Imperial family.
Outing: On Sunday, the two first ladies heard about the history of cultivated pearls at a jewelry shop in downtown Tokyo while President Trump chased golf balls with Prime Minister Abe
Duo: Akie greeted the first lady with a bow as she arrived at the Mikimoto Pearl flagship store in Tokyo’s glitzy Ginza shopping district
Journey: President Trump and his wife arrived in Hawaii on Friday as he set out on the longest trip to Asia by an American president in more than a quarter century
Family: Ivanka Trump also went to Tokyo last week (pictured) ahead of her father’s visit. She was originally supposed to travel with him but ended up coming back before his arrival
Hundreds of people ogled the store from the street, which is turned into a pedestrian walkway on weekend afternoons. Roads in Ginza and other areas near the hotel where the Trumps are staying were heavily guarded. A large portion of the park across from the hotel was cordoned off.
Donald and Melania arrived in Japan on Sunday after a stop in Hawaii. They are due to return to the US on November 14.
The trip presents a crucial international test for a president looking to reassure Asian allies worried that his inward-looking ‘America First’ agenda could cede power in the region to China.
They also are rattled by his bellicose rhetoric about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The North’s growing missile arsenal threatens the capitals the Trumps will visit.
The visit will also put President Trump in face-to-face meetings with authoritarian leaders for whom he has expressed admiration. They include China’s Xi Jinping, whom Trump has likened to ‘a king,’ and the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte, who has sanctioned the extrajudicial killings of drug dealers.
President Trump may also have the chance for a second private audience with Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the sidelines of a summit in Vietnam.
His daughter Ivanka visited Japan last week ahead of his visit and also met up with Prime Minister Abe. She was originally supposed to travel with her father, but ended up coming back to the US before his arrival to keep advocating for his proposed tax reform.