Last Updated on September 12, 2026 10:35 am
First Lady Melania Trump will visit Ashe County on Tuesday, Sept. 15, marking her first stop in western North Carolina since she and President Donald Trump toured Hurricane Helene damage in January 2025.
According to the Office of the First Lady, Trump is scheduled to speak to elementary school students, teachers, and staff at noon Tuesday about the use of technology in education, and will visit classrooms to see how local schools are incorporating technology into instruction. The visit is also framed as an opportunity to highlight community resiliency in the region nearly two years after Hurricane Helene. A specific school for the visit has not yet been publicly announced.
The visit comes one day before President Trump is scheduled to travel to Gastonia, where he's expected to deliver remarks around 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, in support of U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley, in Whatley's hometown. The back-to-back appearances come as North Carolina begins mailing absentee ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, in a state expected to play a significant role in determining control of the U.S. Senate.
