Melania visits families dealing with addiction, Ivana calls FLOTUS ‘family’

United States First Lady Melania Trump visited Huntington, West Virginia on Tuesday and headed to Lily's Place, an infant recovery centre that assists families dealing with addiction. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump's first wife Ivana called the FLOTUS a "family” in an interview that aired on the same day.

"I want to be here to support you and give a voice to Lily's Place and also for the opioid epidemic," Melania said, according to CNN. She added that it is her "passion" to help children.

Melania was part of a roundtable, joined by counsellor to the President Kellyanne Conway and assistant Health and Human Services Secretary for mental health Elinore McCance-Katz. She asked participants if stigma and shame make it harder for parents to seek help. She asked them to tell her how she could help.

Lily's Place executive director Rebecca Crowder said the centre’s goal is to provide support. "We tell them we're not here to judge you and there's nothing you can say that you haven't said yourself.” According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a baby is born suffering from opioid withdrawal in the US every 25 minutes, which statistic described as a "dramatic increase.”

The visit comes one day after Donald’s former wife joked that as his first wife, she was “first lady.” Ivana also told ABC News that she has the direct number to the president at the White House, "but I don't really want to call him there because Melania is there and I don't really want to cause any kind of jealousy.”

In an interview on Fox News' "Fox and Friends” that aired on Tuesday, Ivana said she sent a text to Melania. The former maintained that the last thing she would like to do is to say something bad about the FLOTUS, because she is a “family,” and that she does not say “say anything bad or do anything back to the family member.”

When asked if she would like to have Melania’s role as first lady, Ivana said “not at all” because "Washington is tough, tough town.” But she expressed support for her ex-husband’s role, saying Donald is a good man, and he is trying to do the best he can.

Ivana also shared about raising their children, Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr. She said Donald was not a “classic father” who would take them on walks through Central Park, but he was always on the phone.