White House gets scaled-down Christmas display amid ballroom work
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Decorations feature a giant Lego portrait of 79-year-old Donald Trump.
PHOTO: ALLISON ROBBERT/NYTIMES
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WASHINGTON – US First Lady Melania Trump unveiled 2025’s White House Christmas decorations on Dec 1 – in a reduced space after President Donald Trump demolished part of the historic building for a new ballroom
The 55-year-old’s theme for the season was “home is where the heart is”, despite the fact that she spends relatively little time in Washington, preferring New York and Florida.
Decorations featured a giant Lego portrait of her 79-year-old husband, a huge gingerbread White House, thousands of decorative butterflies, and more than 50 Christmas trees in the first holiday season of the President’s second term.
“Home is not merely a physical space; rather, it is the warmth and comfort I carry within, regardless of my surroundings,” Ms Melania Trump said in a statement released by the White House.
But the actual physical space available at the White House for the Christmas decorations is smaller in 2025.
The White House gingerbread house display in the State Dining Room of the White House.
PHOTO: ALLISON ROBBERT/NYTIMES
In previous years, many of the most dramatic displays have traditionally been in the East Wing, where the first lady’s offices were based and guests to the White House entered for seasonal events.
The East Wing has now been reduced to rubble to make way for Mr Trump’s US$300 million (S$389 million) ballroom
So 2025’s Christmas decorations are all in the main mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
The centrepiece for 2025 is the 5.5m tree in the White House Blue Room, a concolor fir from the state of Michigan which features gold stars to commemorate the families of fallen US service members.
A concolor fir from the state of Michigan is the centrepiece of 2025’s Christmas decorations.
PHOTO: ALLISON ROBBERT/NYTIMES
The decorations also include accents in red, white and blue to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence in 2026, and baubles for Ms Trump’s “Be Best” education initiative.
Mr Trump himself meanwhile showed that he was in no hurry to celebrate his last Christmas in the White House anytime soon. His second term is due to end in 2029.
“We have a little more than three years left, and three years for Trump is an eternity,” Mr Trump told guests at a Christmas party, in a video shared by a White House official. AFP
