Kylie Rancor
When it was announced that Melania Trump was planning a redesign of the iconic Rose Garden, people were skeptical. We’ve all seen how the First Lady decorates the White House for the holidays and saying that her aesthetic sensibilities take a sharp turn from what we normally see isn’t an unfair statement.
And while her Rose Garden, once unveiled, didn’t look quite as ripped out of an overly stylized horror movie as the Christmas decor, one can’t deny there is a similar current of frigidity. Gone are the colorful tulips that bloomed in the days of President John F. Kennedy, whose administration redesigned the space into the serene and cheerful garden that we all knew. The iconic crabapple trees have been dug up, supposedly to be replanted somewhere else on the grounds. And though the limestone walkway now cut into the lawn has the benefit of making the space more accessible, it adds to the dull austerity that now consumes the garden.
The outcry over the changes was sharp and swift, with critics wasting no time denouncing Melania’s destruction of American history and mocking the specific choices we made. Some of the tweets are clever enough to make us feel slightly better about how things have shifted…but not really. Here are some of the best ones: