Melania Trump's Final White House Christmas Decorations Are Going Out With A Bang
Pour one out for the blood trees, because the Trump family's final holiday season in the White House is upon us. After three years of some, shall we say, interesting style choices, first lady Melania Trump switched things up a bit for her final try. Honestly, these photos of the 2020 White House Christmas decorations are surprisingly classic from the non-traditional first lady.
The theme for the 2020 decorations is "America The Beautiful," per a White House statement, and she kind of nailed it. Photos and video show trees decorated with red ribbons or white flowers under soft golden light, and hallways lined with vases overflowing with evergreen boughs. The images also featured the traditional White House gingerbread house, Christmas tree ornaments themed to the first lady's children's welfare campaign, "Be Best," and a toy train with the words "America The Beautiful" written across it. A tree in the Blue Room kept the theme of children and family going, with ornaments designed and decorated by children across the country in tribute to their home states.
There was also a nod to one of the big moments of 2020: the centennial of the 19th Amendment, which affirmed women's right to vote and was ratified in 1920. A video of the decorations shared by the first lady showed a tree decorated with a banner reading, "U.S. Constitution Amendment XIX."
Choosing to stick with the classics was perhaps a good move for the first lady, given that the holiday season hasn't always treated her well during her husband's time in office. In 2017, her winter-icicle theme was compared to a haunted forest and photoshopped to include flying Dementors. The following year was even worse, when she chose to feature bright red evergreen trees, which Twitter quickly dubbed "blood trees" and compared to the opening act of a horror movie.
In 2020, there was more at stake than just a light roasting on Twitter. Back in October, a former White House aide leaked a recording in which Trump complained about overseeing the annual Christmas decorations. "I'm working my ass off with this Christmas stuff that, you know, who gives a f*ck about Christmas stuff and decoration?" Trump can be heard saying. The White House did not previously respond to Elite Daily's request for comment on the recording, but a spokesperson for the first lady told The New York Times that "there is no way to know if these recordings have been edited," and it was "clear the clips were handpicked and presented with no context."
Nevertheless, some people took the opportunity to bring up the comments again.
Others, however, had the first lady's back — including some of her husband's political opponents. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, one of the only two Muslim women to serve in Congress, tweeted in support of Trump's holiday décor. "This is beautifully decorated and can be appreciated if we don’t allow our politics to dilute everything," Omar wrote, retweeting the first lady's post.
Whether Trump is proud of a job well done or just thankful to have it all over and done with, it's the last time she'll have to take on this task. In January 2021, the Trumps will be leaving the White House — and next year, this job will go to incoming first lady Jill Biden.
