US first lady welcomed in Belgium with music and fashion

U.S. first lady Melania Trump returned to the international stage Wednesday as she mingled with the spouses of America's closest allies over classical music, fashion and chocolate.

As President Donald Trump harangued Germany and other allies at a NATO summit in Brussels, his wife chatted amiably with some of their spouses at a music conservatory in a wooded park in Waterloo, near the Belgian capital.

First lady Melania Trump, center, arrives with other first ladies during a group photo of NATO heads of state and government at Park Cinquantenaire in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

There, she and 10 other spouses were given a tour of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, a training center for gifted young musicians housed in a modernistic glass building.

Mrs. Trump, 48, wore a navy blue sleeveless Calvin Klein calf-length dress with white and green detail on one collarbone and white Christian Louboutin heels with their trademark red soles. Klein is an all-American fashion house, but its chief creative officer, Raf Simons, is Belgian.

Amelie Derbaudrenghien, the partner of Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, second left, speaks with U.S. first lady Melania Trump, center, and French first lady Brigitte Macron, second right, during a group photo at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, Belgium, during a spouses program on the sidelines of the NATO summit on Wednesday, July 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

In the evening, she changed into a sleeveless white Elie Saab cocktail dress for a dinner at the Art and History Museum at the Cinquantenaire, a landmark city park.

Neither of the Trumps took a drink as they chatted with other heads of state at a cocktail reception, only hours after the U.S. president accused Germany of being "captive to Russia" for buying natural gas from that country and chided other allies for their levels of defense spending. The president does not drink alcohol.

First lady Melania Trump, center, extends her arms to help balance herself on stage as she arrives with other first ladies during a group photo of NATO heads of state and government at Park Cinquantenaire in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. NATO leaders gathered in Brussels Wednesday for a two-day summit to discuss Russia, Iraq and their mission in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Holding hands, the Trumps next walked up the steps of the museum, where the president joined leaders for a working dinner and the first lady joined a separate dinner for spouses.

The trip marked the former model's return to the international stage after she dropped out of public sight in May for nearly a month, including five days in the hospital following surgery for a benign kidney condition. Her husband later told reporters that she had had a "big operation" and was under doctors' orders not to fly for a month.

U.S. first lady Melania Trump, center, listens to a concert at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, Belgium, during a spouses program on the sidelines of the NATO summit on Wednesday, July 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Her office clarified that only international travel was forbidden for that period of time, and the first lady did not accompany the president to Canada for an earlier world leaders' summit or to Singapore for his historic one-on-one meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, both in the first half of June.

There was no word on how Mrs. Trump would spend her second day in Brussels. The couple travels next to Britain, where planned engagements include tea with Queen Elizabeth, and to Helsinki, Finland, where the U.S. president is to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Amelie Derbaudrenghien, the partner of Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, left, U.S. first lady Melania Trump, center, and French first lady Brigitte Macron applaud during at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, Belgium, during a spouses program on the sidelines of the NATO summit on Wednesday, July 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

As the spouses arrived at the music academy in the early afternoon, they were greeted by Amelie Derbaudrenghien, the partner of Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, and Ingrid Schulerud, the wife of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

They were then escorted into a music auditorium with tall glass windows offering views into the woods behind the school for performances of Tchaikovsky's Valse Scherzo and music by Hubay and Piazzolla.

President Donald Trump, right, and first lady Melania Trump, left, talk with German Chancellor Angela Merkel second from the left and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

During an intermission, they posed for a group photo, viewed a display of hats by Belgian designer Fabienne Delvigne and were offered delicacies created by Herman Van Dender, a pastry maker and chocolatier who is the official supplier to the Belgian royal house.

French First lady Brigitte Macron, left, and US First Lady Melania Trump arrive ahead of a NATO spouses dinner at Jubilee Museum in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. NATO leaders gathered in Brussels Wednesday for a two-day summit to discuss Russia, Iraq and their mission in Afghanistan. (Stephanie Lecocq/Pool Photo via AP)

Mrs. Trump sat between French first lady Brigitte Macron, who was dressed in white, and Derbaudrenghien, in vibrant yellow, during the concert. Other participating first ladies included Emine Erdogan of Turkey and Mojca Stropnik of Slovenia, Mrs. Trump's native country. Gauthier Destenay, the husband of Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, was the only man in the group.

At one point during the concert, Mrs. Trump and some of the others applauded prematurely. Catching themselves, they smiled and kept on listening.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Jowon Briggs was sitting in a New York Jets special teams meeting earlier this season when Chris Banjo turned to him and made a request.

“I didn't know you could sing,” said the special teams coordinator, who heard some buzz about Briggs' vocal talents. "Man, go ahead and sing something."

The spotlight was suddenly on the big defensive tackle. But Briggs is used to shining when it's time to perform — on and off the football field.

So, remaining seated in a room full of teammates and coaches, the 6-foot-1, 313-pound tenor smoothly belted out Tevin Campbell's 1990s R&B hit, “Can We Talk."

“I knew he could sing because he said he could, but then he sang in person — man, he has a beautiful voice,” defensive tackle Harrison Phillips said.

“It was crazy, actually,” safety Isaiah Oliver recalled. “I didn't know that about him prior to that meeting, so it was kind of shocking. But it was really good.”

So much so, Briggs received a standing ovation.

“I think a lot of guys were more surprised with, one, the song I sang, and then how it actually sounded," a smiling Briggs said. "They were like, ‘Oh, that can’t be coming from Juwon!'"

But an even bigger surprise for some of Briggs' teammates is that he's a one-man band who has learned how to play 12 instruments to varying degrees of competency.

“It’s just one of those things,” he said. “Like I always say, everybody’s got something. I just happen to be a musical guy.”

That's putting it lightly.

There's Briggs' exceptional voice, of course. But he also has played the recorder, piano, violin, viola, cello, stand-up bass, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, saxophone, flute and harmonica, and still owns a few of them. Briggs has messed around with drums, too, but doesn’t count that as part of his musical repertoire.

“I've never seen anybody who could play as many instruments and be so gifted vocally,” defensive tackle Jay Tufele said. “He's a beast on the field and off.”

When it comes to football, Briggs has been one of the Jets' bright spots during a mostly dismal season. He has emerged as a pass-rushing, run-stuffing starter since replacing Quinnen Williams, who was traded last month to Dallas.

The 24-year-old D-lineman wasn't even on the team until a few weeks before the regular season, when the seventh-round pick of Cleveland last year out of the University of Cincinnati was acquired by New York. He has 28 total tackles, six tackles for loss, a forced fumble, three sacks and nine quarterback hits.

“He’s a big man, he’s strong,” coach Aaron Glenn said. "He’s able to stop the run. He’s been doing a good job of that, but what’s been surprising — and I wouldn’t say surprising — but what he’s had the tick up in is his ability to rush the passer also. So, we want to be able to utilize that.

“I’m not saying that he’s Mean Joe Greene or anything like that, but listen, he’s been doing a really good job of being disruptive in the pass game.”

Briggs grew up in Cincinnati with four older sisters, a younger brother and parents who all loved music and sports, making for a seamless duet of life-long passions.

“With music, I’d probably say it started from the womb,” Briggs said with a laugh. “I always say I kind of got the trickle-down effect. They’ve all been singing, dancing, acting and playing sports since before I was even thought of, so I kind of just fell into a musical household."

There were times one sibling would start playing an instrument, another would join, someone would start singing and then another would harmonize.

“We had a very loud house,” a smiling Briggs said. “It was kind of like ‘Battle of the Bands.’ It was a lot of fun. My sisters all sing better than I can, but if you grow up in that kind of competitive household, you find out if you can sing or not fairly quickly. So I was able to figure out that I was decent.”

And he was pretty good at making music, too.

Briggs started playing the recorder in kindergarten, followed by piano and then the violin in second grade.

“That’s where my love for string instruments started,” he said.

The viola came next, followed by the cello. Briggs added singing and acting to the mix when he attended a creative and performing arts school in Cincinnati. That carried over to Walnut Hills High School, where he got the lead role as Coalhouse Walker Jr. in “Ragtime” and performed in other productions. He also found a passion in the bass guitar.

“It's my favorite all the way," he said. “And I just picked up a new one.”

He later learned the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, saxophone, flute and harmonica.

Meanwhile, Briggs was also developing into a standout defensive tackle, drawing attention from major college football programs as one of Ohio's top high school players and winning his conference's defensive player of the year award as a senior.

He found balance with his schoolwork, sports and music — and deftly handled the pressures of all.

“Compared to singing a solo on stage," Briggs said, "being on a football field might as well be like a walk in a loud park.”

When he got to the University of Virginia as a physics and music double-major, he joined the school's University Singers and its chamber choir, which performed around Charlottesville. Briggs also was part of an a cappella group called The Hullabahoos that went to London in 2020 just before the COVID-19 pandemic and sang at schools, churches, pubs and sometimes right on the streets.

He performed the national anthem before a few Virginia basketball games and did so again when he transferred to Cincinnati after two years.

Briggs' football talents also blossomed and he became a highly regarded NFL prospect in his three years with the Bearcats before getting drafted by the Browns.

“My parents did a good job of instilling good time management in me,” he said. “And now it's just pretty much football and kids."

The married father of four uses music to decompress, whether that's playing his bass on the couch with his headphones while the kids are asleep or using computer programs to make recordings.

“I probably got a couple albums worth,” Briggs said. “It’s just a matter of when I feel like releasing them. Maybe one day I’ll just be like, ‘Might as well let one go and see what happens.’”

Briggs has a broad playlist that ranges from John Coltrane to Alice In Chains to Sarah Vaughan to Prince — and everything in between.

“He also raps,” Phillips revealed of his teammate. “His singing voice and his rapping voice are two different buckets. I'm not artistic in any way, so major props to him on that.”

Football remains the focus for Briggs, who hopes he can play several more years. But he also knows other talents might help him shine long after his last snap.

“You can always fall back on your voice,” he said. “It’s one of them things that shouldn’t go out on you like your legs.”

He'd also love to do some stage work down the line, “even if it's not off-Broadway or even off-off-Broadway," he joked.

As for his instrument-playing prowess, Briggs doesn't go around telling his teammates about that or how he next wants to master playing a five-string bass. But sometimes, someone will catch a peek of the amp tucked in his car's trunk — just in case he feels like plugging in that guitar.

“Then we go down the rabbit hole,” Briggs said with a laugh. "But I don’t think a lot of guys even know. And they might not ever know.

"I mean, until they see me put out a record 30 years from now.”

—

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, center left, throws a pass against New York Jets defensive tackle Jowon Briggs, center right, during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

FILE - New York Jets defensive tackle Jowon Briggs (91) after an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger,File)