For the second year of the Trump administration, first lady Melania Trump has decorated the White House for the holidays. Her theme is “American Treasures,” and I think it looks lovely, sophisticated, patriotic, and festive.
The People’s House @WhiteHouse is ready to celebrate Christmas and the holiday season! pic.twitter.com/oejKW3mC15
— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) November 26, 2018
Unfortunately, already, her taste in decor is being ridiculed because some people have nothing better to do than mock and critique the White House’s decorations.
Melania’s Christmas decorations look like they’re straight out of the Shining pic.twitter.com/mVMY7yuxIZ
— Emily C. Singer (@CahnEmily) November 26, 2018
Decorator: Okay, so we want to avoid looking like the entrance to the White Witch’s Narnian castle like we did last year.
Melania: What about red?
Decorator: Sure, red ornaments are cheerful!
Melania: No. The trees. Red.
Decorator: ….
Melania: Like the blood of my enemies. pic.twitter.com/hOuDYFT8Om
— Approximately Jane (@sgtjanedoe) November 26, 2018
The image of Melania walking alone through the bloody handmaid trees seriously made my morning pic.twitter.com/4KQOFPDIEI
— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) November 26, 2018
Funny, I don’t recall this level of scorn from Republicans, and definitely not Democrats, when Michelle Obama spearheaded decorating for the holidays. Just like the rest of us, White House decor comes down to the first lady’s personal taste and how she and her staff execute it.
While Trump’s taste is certainly unique and definitely more bold (she prefers solid colors in large spaces), Obama’s was neither better nor worse, just different. In 2015, Obama preferred splashes of a variety of colors, in a candy-like scheme eluding to a more childlike, fun White House. It too had its kooky moments: I mean, there were significant decorations picturing the family’s two dogs (really?). However, this kind of decor seemed to fit Obama’s personality. I didn’t recall what it looked like until I went back and reviewed that year, and I certainly don’t recall anyone mocking it. The Washington Post, and other outlets, raved.
2016 was another fun, colorful year of White House holiday decor, a venture that again, Obama spearheaded, as is the custom. Again, the publications raved. Glamour said:
If it’s okay for Obama to put headphones on snowmen in the White House, why can’t Trump put a grouping of red trees down the hallway in the White House? Why, in the scheme of child hunger, a border crisis, and a lingering war in Afghanistan, not to mention positive progress like record-low unemployment, does anyone care?
People care because when their party is not in charge, they suddenly become petty, partisan, scornful, and stupid. If it’s okay for Michelle Obama to decorate with depictions of her dogs in Christmas colors in the White House, it’s okay for Melania Trump to use red, the color “of valor and bravery,” throughout the White House too.
Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
