First Lady Melania Trump collected her final White House Christmas tree on Monday (Pictures: AP)
First Lady Melania Trump has collected her final White House Christmas tree before she and husband Donald are shown the door.
Mrs Trump was filmed welcoming the 18.5 foot Frasier fir as it arrived outside her Washington DC address on Monday morning – the last time she will do so before President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill take over her home in January.
The fir, grown on a farm in West Virginia, arrived at the White House on a horse-drawn cart pulled by two horse-people in old-fashioned uniform. It was serenaded by two members of the US military who played traditional Christmas carols on brass instruments.
Mrs Trump was secretly recorded saying ‘Who gives a fuck about Christmas decoration and stuff?’ during a 2018 phone call with former aide Stephanie Winston Wolkoff that was released last month.
But despite that slur, she appeared pleased to see the festive foliage, and was filmed smiling and waving as it arrived.
The First Lady wished waiting journalists a ‘Merry Christmas’ before heading back inside, with the tree set to be decorated and displayed in the White House’s Blue Room.
The arrival of the Christmas tree traditionally marks the start of the festive season at the White House, with President Trump set to pardon at least one Thanksgiving turkey on Tuesday.
Two prospective candidates called Corn and Cob are currently relaxing in a Washington DC hotel ahead of their big appearance.
The First Lady smiled for the camera and wished journalists a ‘Merry Christmas’ as it was brought to her front door by a horse and cart (Picture: AP)
Mrs Trump will be able to decorate her homes in private next year, with Joe Biden and his wife Jill set to replace her and husband Donald in January (Picture: PA)
Mrs Trump’s previous decorating efforts have proved controversial, including these crimson trees from 2018 that were likened to characters from The Handmaid’s Tale (Picture: Backgrid)
It will only be Trump’s third public appearance since Joe Biden was named winner of the election on November 7, with the president using both prior events to claim he was the rightful winner.
Trump watchers are keen to see this year’s White House Christmas decorations. The First Lady’s ice white effort in 2017 was branded cold and uninviting.
And in 2018 she sparked a slew of jokes with crimson trees that some onlookers said looked like characters from dystopian novel and TV drama The Handmaid’s Tale.
But his is the last year Mrs Trump will be faced with such scathing public criticism.
The famously-private first lady able to decorate her palatial homes in peace next Christmas when she and President Trump again become private citizens.
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