Despite Critics, Melania Trump Expands Mission Of ‘Be Best’ On Its 1-Year Anniversary

First Lady Melania Trump is celebrating the one-year anniversary of the creation of her anti-online bullying “Be Best” initiative by announcing an expansion. Critics have savaged the first lady’s efforts noting that her husband, President Donald Trump, is the chief online bully in the country.

Her second-year push includes broadening the program’s focus on drug abuse and social media use, along with embarking on her second international trip.

“This past year has shown me that children are vulnerable to more than just social media, and so I expanded one of my pillars to online safety,” said Trump, 49, who also said the campaign would extend its work on opioid abuse to “include kids of all ages.”

When first revealing “Be Best,” her first major initiative, Trump said its focus is on child well-being, social media use and drug abuse.

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“As I said at my campaign launch a year ago, I’m here with one goal: which is for children to reach their full potential so they can grow up happy, healthy and contribute positively to society and the world,” the first lady said in a Tuesday ceremony in the White House Rose Garden – the same place where she first kicked off the initiative last May.

“With that goal always in mind, we must continue our work to do what we can to affect positive change for our children,” she continued, as President Trump looked on from the audience.

Since announcing the program, the first lady has traveled around the world to promote it, including a solo trip last year to Africa.

Trump revealed she planned to make another international visit later this year. “We plan to travel this fall,” she said, “and I’m very much looking forward to it.”

The former model also announced an appointment made earlier this year- Julie Cram, who was appointed in March.

“For the first time in history, the United States Agency for International Development has appointed a Be Best ambassador,” Trump told the crowd, calling on other federal government agencies to follow suit.

Trump was joined by three speakers at Tuesday’s ceremony, National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins, Microsoft’s Toni Townes-Whitley and anti-opioid abuse advocate and former Fox News personality Eric Bolling.

Bolling heaped praise on Trump, saying, “When the history books are written, there should be a special chapter reserved for our first lady- “the most important and accomplished first lady in American history.”