US First Lady Melania Trump made her second public appearance of the week alongside President Donald Trump on Sunday, joining him at the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, an IndyCar race in Washington, DC held to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence. The outing follows a Rose Garden event earlier in the week that was her first joint public appearance with the president in over a month, and comes amid heightened scrutiny of Trump's relationship with a close aide after a Democratic senator made pointed remarks about it at a rally.

At the earlier Rose Garden event, Melania Trump announced a new partnership with IndyCar and Fox Sports to fund scholarships for young people ageing out of the foster care system, including programmes at Indiana University and Purdue University. The couple travelled to the race in the presidential motorcade and took honorary laps ahead of the main event, which senior international motorsport figures, including FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, praised as a celebration of American racing heritage. Organisers expected more than 140,000 spectators to attend the race in the capital.