First lady Melania Trump revealed in an interview at the Freedom 250 Grand Prix that she had a passion for cars while growing up in Slovenia.

Trump said in an Aug. 23 interview on Fox that her father introduced her to racing as a child and that she “loved every minute of it.”

“When I was growing up, my father introduced me to races and to race cars, and he owned some incredible cars: from a Maserati, Cougar, Mustang, Mercedes,” Trump said. “He introduced me to the design of cars, and the mechanics, and also the speed.”

The interview also touched on Trump’s Fostering the Future initiative, which aims to improve education, housing and career outcomes for people transitioning out of foster care.

“They need to have the same opportunities as other children, and I’m very proud to say that we had the first doctor graduating and we now have 26 universities all around the country that have foster students,” Trump said.

The initiative is now part of 26 universities nationwide, including the University of Texas, the University of North Carolina, Dominican University in New York and Pepperdine University. Trump said in the interview that she encourages “every governor in every state to sign in and support foster children.”

Days earlier, she announced that Fostering the Future will expand its network through a $2 million donation from IndyCar and Fox Corporation to fund scholarships at Indiana University and Purdue University.

The Rose Garden event was her first public appearance in 32 days. She had last been seen publicly at the 2026 World Cup final on July 19.

Her senior adviser Marc Beckman previously told USA TODAY that she has been “working behind the scenes.”

Contributing: Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY