For four years, between 2017 and 2020, former President Donald Trump and his administration made headlines almost daily with outlandish tweets, legally questionable executive decisions and social missteps.
And even though she mostly kept to herself during her time in office, Trump’s wife, Melania, made news every year for her White House Christmas decorations — mostly negative in nature.
“Melania’s Christmases, ranked from most to least haunted”, a big title from 2020, read. “There is neither comfort nor joy in Melania Trump’s dark and impersonal Christmas decoration,” said another.
Although his decorations were a bit atypical compared to those of years past, I think it’s safe to say years later that they weren’t that bad.
Much of the criticism seems to come from her leaked comments in 2020, where she emphasized the comparison to the policies of separating children from her husband at the border and the expectations of being First Lady. She said she had “gone out of her way for the Christmas stuff,” even though she didn’t mind the responsibility.
“Who cares about Christmas stuff and decorations?” Melania asked in the recording: “But I have to do this, don’t I?”
Although it seems like she hated the task, Melania ultimately put a creative spin on the typical, traditional White House holiday decorations that were, well… unique.
And not necessarily in a bad way.
As my Pulitzer Prize-winning editor – a former culture writer – told me: “If the White House doesn’t look like ‘Don’t sleep anymore‘At Christmas, I think the First Lady screwed up.’
Even my nerdy, usually Trump-hating roommate had positive words for Melania’s decorations. “It seriously looked like Doctor Doom was looking for Christmas,” she said.
With that in mind, here are the highlights of Melania’s Christmas decorations from the East Colonnade:
