Happy Holidays

Melania Trump Kicks Off Her First White House Christmas

Christmas trees! Ballet dancers!
Mrs. Trump photographed in the Grand Foyer amidst decorations on November 27th.
Mrs. Trump photographed in the Grand Foyer amidst decorations on November 27th.By Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images.

This holiday season, Melania Trump stars in what is either the official unveiling of White House decorations or a seasonal advertisement for J.Crew. The video that the First Lady tweeted on Monday shows her overseeing wreath developments, confirming that the lights are lights, marking some markings—all while wearing festive chunky knits and a couple over-the-shoulder jackets.

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The White House Office of the First Lady’s press release revealed that Mrs. Trump designed this year’s holiday decorations around the theme “Time-Honored Traditions.” There are room-by-room thematic variations, like the China Room, which “honors the holiday traditions of dining and hospitality” with a table made up for Christmas dinner with Ronald Reagan’s china. The Library shows off President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1866 edition of A Christmas Carol to honor the tradition of telling Christmas stories. The State Dining Room is now the gingerbread room, and includes Melania’s “signature Christmas wreaths” and so on. It looks nice! Seemed like a lot of work!

Is it safe to assume we have some clarity as to what she’s been up to when not traversing the Great Wall of China or making an appearance at the turkey pardoning ceremony? Maybe!

And this is just the start of the work. The Office of the First Lady estimates the White House will host 100 open houses and receptions in December, and it expects that “more than 25,000 visitors will walk the halls taking part in public tours.” That’s so many! Bullying initiatives or whatever will have to wait until the new year. It already started on Monday with a preview for journalists, complete with children’s crafts and a ballet performance filmed by The Hill columnist Judy Kurtz.

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Here, Melania is watching the performance:

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“Adequately done,” she probably whispered to the principal. “I only counted four mistakes.”

Update (November 23, 2017, 3:30 p.m.):

It turns into a nightmare around nightfall, per this picture from the FLOTUS’s Director of Communications Stephanie Grisham:

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Happy holidays, including Halloween!