First lady urges nationwide adoption of foster-youth initiatives, announces $30 million for HUD and a national AI education push

The first lady outlined a package of initiatives aimed at supporting children, saying she backed early legislation and has pushed for housing and education programs nationwide. "Take it down act is the first piece of legislation that I supported within the first 100 days," she said, calling it an early priority for her agenda on children's issues.

She said the "Fostering the Future" initiative has expanded coast to coast and announced $30 million for the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) 2026 budget to support housing for America's foster youth. The first lady also highlighted national education efforts tied to technology: "All 50 states are participating in the presidential AI challenge," she said, and she added that "almost 3,000 schools nationwide joined the White House AI workshop." Those remarks framed a broader push to link youth, technology and education.

On the international front, the first lady said she recently addressed the United Nations Security Council about "the importance of peace through education" and convened a "Fostering the Future Together" global coalition summit at the White House and the Department of State that included leaders from nearly 50 countries. She said her office completed the fourth reunification of Ukrainian and Russian children with their families, presenting it as a concrete humanitarian result of the initiative.

She closed by urging public support for her programs, asking listeners to "join me in advancing the Be Best and Fostering the Future initiatives nationwide." The speech was a policy-focused appeal rather than a formal announcement of new legislation beyond the items she described; no formal votes or administrative actions were recorded in the remarks.