It took 150 volunteers a week to decorate the White House halls this year, which included 25,000 feet of ribbon, 120 pounds of gingerbread, more than 10,000 butterflies and a 6,000-piece Lego figure of President Donald Trump.
The theme of first lady Melania Trump’s fifth holiday season: “Home is where the heart is,” according to her office. This year’s decorations largely played safe, using traditional twinkling lights and large velvet bows after the First Lady’s design choices have faced scrutiny in the past.
After a three-month hiatus due to the demolition of the East Wing by the President and the ongoing construction of his new ballroom, tours of the People’s House will reopen to the public on Tuesday following an abbreviated and reimagined route. The sounds of construction hummed in the background as a military band played holiday classics during a media tour of the decorations Monday morning.
In past years, guests entered from the East Wing and walked along the East Colonnade, visiting historic spaces such as the White House Library and the Vermeil Room on the ground floor. But now that the East Wing has been torn down to make way for a 90,000-square-foot ballroom, visitors will enter through the front door of the White House.
Paying homage to the country’s big birthday next year with an “America 250” theme, the renovated tour begins in the East Room. Four evergreen trees with “America 250” themed bases sparkle with twinkling lights and red, white and blue ornaments and bows.
According to the First Lady’s office, the Green Room features “family fun” inspiration, including two 6,000-piece Lego figures of Donald Trump and President George Washington, as well as a castle made of cards and a tree made of dominoes.
This year’s official White House Christmas tree, hailing from Michigan, is the star of the Blue Room. Concolor firs are decorated with blue velvet bows, twinkling stars and large frosted ornaments featuring each state and territory’s official flower and bird. The lights in the room had to be removed to accommodate the 18-foot tree.
The Red Room pays homage to the First Lady’s “Be Best” stage performance, with flocks of blue butterflies decorating a tree, mantle and burning topiary.
And the icing on the cake, or cookie in this case – the 120-pound gingerbread in the State Dining Room forms a White House replica carefully created by a pastry chef. It includes an interior view of the yellow Oval Room in the residence with a spectacular Christmas tree, gold and crystal chandelier and light pink sofa.
Volunteers from across the country gathered over Thanksgiving weekend to prepare the White House for the holiday season.
Small-business owner Amber Welch of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was one of 150 volunteers selected from a pool of 12,000 applicants, who were then divided into teams assigned to different rooms.
Their work began on November 24 at an off-site location in Washington, DC, an area filled with supply and decoration storage. Welch was assigned the Blue Room, and in addition to other projects, he spent days tying hundreds of bows and gluing wire to tree ornaments.
“It’s this crazy feeling of patriotism, in awe that you’re standing here, where your ancestors stood in this room, and what this room has been used for. It’s an emotional moment that makes you very proud and happy about your country,” Welch told CNN Sunday evening.
She continued: “And the ultimate humility, to think, Oh my God – so many historic things have happened here, and this is my role.”
Inspiration from ‘Motherhood and Business’
Although Melania Trump has spent most of this term away from the White House in Palm Beach, Florida or New York, the first lady was deeply involved in planning this year’s holiday display. Trump’s inspiration for the theme was “the joys, challenges and constant motion derived from motherhood and business,” his office said.
Trump said in a statement, “Constant movement has taught me that home is not just a physical place; rather, it is the warmth and comfort I carry inside regardless of my surroundings.”
Trump has been steadily ramping up his public appearances in recent weeks as he has indicated that the multimillion-dollar deal he signed with Amazon for an eponymous documentary earlier this year has drawn more attention to him.
“The silver screen and I have been having deep conversations lately,” Trump said last month while accepting Fox Nation’s “Patriot of the Year” award.
Trump is the executive producer of the project, indicating that the documentary is being made with his full involvement and editorial control.
The “Melania” documentary, which will hit theaters in January, is directed by Brett Ratner and is the filmmaker’s first major project since 2017, when he was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women. Ratner has denied the allegations.
Previously during the Trump administration, the First Lady in 2017 went with a classic “time-honored tradition” theme, paying homage to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1866 version of “A Christmas Carol” and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s “Nutcracker Suite” 1961 theme.
The patriotic 2018 theme – with a pervasive red motif – came under fire for the memorable blood-red trees along the eastern colonnade, which critics compared to “The Handmaid’s Tale”.
The First Lady later said of the choice, “We’re in the 21st century and everyone has different tastes.”
Patriotism was the theme again in 2019 with the stars, stripes and giant golden eagles. Decorations in 2020 paid tribute to essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a tree with ornaments such as garbage trucks, scientists, caregivers, lab coats, and nurse hats.
Trump has also privately expressed displeasure over leave requirements for presidential spouses. She was secretly recorded in the summer of 2018 expressing frustration at being criticized for her husband’s family separation policy at the US-Mexico border while being required to perform traditional first lady duties.
“I’m working on…my shit on Christmas stuff, you know, who feels sorry about Christmas stuff and decorations? But I need to do it, right?” she said in a tape recorded by former friend and mentor Stephanie Winston Volkoff.
Trump continued, “Okay, and then I do this and I say I’m working on Christmas and planning for Christmas and they say, ‘Oh, what about those kids that they had separated?’ Give me a f**king break.”
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