One year after Parkland

On February 14, 2018, a horrific act of violence took the lives of 14 students and 3 educators on the campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. On this somber anniversary, we remember 17 lives that ended far too soon—and recommit ourselves to ensuring the safety of all Americans, especially our children.

“We cannot imagine the sorrow and suffering the Parkland families have endured. Our entire Nation mourns for the victims and their loved ones, and we pledge our unwavering resolve to work with the leaders in this room to secure our Nation’s schools and everywhere else,” President Donald J. Trump said last night.

Within days of the Parkland tragedy, President Trump convened a listening session with families, teachers, and student survivors of gun violence at the White House. “We learned a lot that afternoon,” the President wrote in a statement today.

In the year since Parkland, important strides have been made. One month after that listening session, President Trump signed the STOP School Violence Act and Fix NICS Act into law, which provides grants to improve school safety and strengthens background checks for firearm purchases. The Administration has also completed a regulatory process, begun in October 2017, to ban bump stocks.

“Melania and I join all Americans in praying for the continued healing of those in the Parkland community and all communities where lives have been lost to gun violence,” President Trump said in his statement. “Today, as we hold in our hearts each of those lost a year ago in Parkland, let us declare together, as Americans, that we will not rest until our schools are secure and our communities are safe.”

Presidential message on remembering the Parkland tragedy

What you should know: How President Trump is making our schools safer

For Valentine’s Day, First Lady brings joy to kids

Earlier today, First Lady Melania Trump visited the Children’s Inn at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for an afternoon of Valentine’s Day festivities with some young patients.

The day was filled making candy grams, snow globes shaped like hearts, and other arts and crafts. She also hand-delivered a White House valentine to each of the children.

The well-being of our Nation’s children is a top priority for the First Lady, as exemplified by her Be Best initiative. Yesterday, while hosting Colombian First Lady Maria Juliana Ruiz Sandoval at the White House, she discussed the devastating impact that the opioid crisis is having on children and young mothers.

“My conversation with the First Lady of Colombia today further encouraged a global mission to fighting the addiction crisis and issues facing children domestically and all around the world,” the First Lady said in a statement.

First Lady Melania Trump meets with the First Lady of Colombia.

Learn more: The Be Best initiative puts our children first