Just before President Trump stepped in to declare the public emergency, Melania walked up to the podium and what she did next had the entire room in TEARS.
She opened up her heart and told a few personal stories that had took place in the recent past.
“I have learned so much from those and I know there are many more stories to tell,” she said. Melania was speaking about the people who she had met recently that were victims of opioid abuse – both directly and indirectly.
“What I found to be the common theme with all of these stories is this can happen to any of us. Drug addiction can take your friends, neighbors and your family.”
At this point, the entire crowd sat in silence as the First Lady shared her hopes of helping those suffering from opioid addiction.
“As many of you know, addiction effects children many different ways, and I have recently taken a larger interest in what I can do to help this epidemic.”
Melania has absolutely made a move towards helping those affected by this issue over the past few months. She has attended a number of events, and even visited treatment centers such as Lily’s Place. Our First Lady cares about the American people, and she is taking a stand for a safer and healthier nation.
After she finishes speaking, the audience gives her a standing ovation that seems to last forever. She and President Trump embrace. The President is clearly proud of his wife for making such a powerful impact on a critical issue.
Watch Melania’s emotionally powerful speech below:
Calling the epidemic “a national shame”, Mr Trump announced a plan to target the abuse of opioids, which kill more than 140 Americans each day.
The president has previously promised to declare a national emergency, which would have triggered federal funding to help states combat the drug scourge.
The move instead redirects grant money to be used in dealing with the crisis.
Five ways to tackle the US drug epidemic
Mr Trump said on Thursday at the White House: “More people are dying from drug overdoses today than from gun homicides and motor vehicles combined.
“These overdoses are driven by a massive increase in addiction to prescription painkillers, heroin and other opioids.”
He added: “The United States is by far the largest consumer of these drugs using more opioid pills per person than any other country by far in the world.”
Mr Trump is signing a presidential memorandum directing his acting health secretary to declare a nationwide public health emergency and ordering all federal agencies to take measures to reduce the number of opioid deaths, according to senior White House officials.
The order will also ease some regulations to allow states more latitude in how they use federal funds to tackle the problem.
But the White House plans to fund the effort through the Public Health Emergency Fund, which reportedly only contains $57,000 (£43,000).
The Trump administration will then work with Congress to approve additional funding in a year-end spending package, senior officials said.
Other elements of the directive include:
Allow patients further access to “telemedicine” so they can receive prescriptions without seeing a doctor
Make grants available to those who have had trouble finding work due to addiction
The Department of Health and Human Services will hire more people to address the crisis, particularly in rural areas
Allows states to shift federal funds from HIV treatments to opioids, since the two are linked as drug users often share infected needles
Proponents suggest Mr Trump’s announcement is a critical step in raising awareness about the nationwide epidemic, while some critics argue the move does not go far enough.
Make grants available to those who have had trouble finding work due to addiction
The Department of Health and Human Services will hire more people to address the crisis, particularly in rural areas
Allows states to shift federal funds from HIV treatments to opioids, since the two are linked as drug users often share infected needles
Proponents suggest Mr Trump’s announcement is a critical step in raising awareness about the nationwide epidemic, while some critics argue the move does not go far enough.
“The lack of resources is concerning to us since the opioid epidemic presenting lots of challenges for states’ budgets,” Michael Fraser, executive director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, told Politico.
“My hope is people will realise with no new money the ball is going to be in Congress’s court,” he added.
The 100 words that triggered the opioid crisis
Morgue services boom in US opioid crisis
Taking the first step
Rajini Vaidyanathan, BBC News, Washington
Addiction to painkillers and heroin has blighted so many communities across the US – both urban and rural.
Morgue services boom in US opioid crisis
Taking the first step
Rajini Vaidyanathan, BBC News, Washington
Addiction to painkillers and heroin has blighted so many communities across the US – both urban and rural.
As I travelled the country reporting on last year’s election, I remember the hairdresser in Arkansas whose ex-husband died from medicines he’d been given for his bad back, the family in New Hampshire who’d lost a teenage daughter to an overdose and heard stories of doctors who’d become hooked on the very pills they’d prescribed.
President Trump has stopped short of declaring this crisis a national emergency, despite earlier indications he would.
Instead his public health emergency is more of a short-term measure which doesn’t allocate as much funding. Recovering addicts and charities I’ve talked to say more investment in round-the-clock rehab and treatment is what is needed to make a difference.
But while today’s announcement is welcome, many will now be looking to Congress to take more action and secure more money to deal with this crisis.
Since 1999, the number of deaths involving opioids have quadrupled, reaching 33,000 deaths in 2015, according to the Presidential Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, citing data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC first declared opioids, a class of pain medications as well as some street drugs, to be an “epidemic” in 2011.
Mr Trump first announced his intention to declare opioid abuse a “national emergency” in August.
“The opioid crisis is an emergency, and I’m saying officially right now: It is an emergency. It’s a national emergency,” he said at the time.
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