U.S. President Donald Trump's wife Melania hosted the annual Easter Egg Roll on Monday, after speculations that the administration would skip the hundred-year-old tradition. Despite 18,000 eggs rolled and fulfillment of the long-standing event, the Trumps' first egg roll event was not saved from comparisons against past celebrations.
So, how did the Trumps hosted this year's Easter Egg Roll event? Here are a few instances how the Trump government's annual egg roll celebration differed from the ones thrown by former President Barack Obama's government.
Attendees of this year's Egg Roll slimmed down in the count. According to CNN, over 21,000 adults and children attended the event at the White House balcony's south lawn. The Obamas' last Easter Egg Roll was bigger by a sizable fraction, as they welcomed over 37,000 guests in 2016 and over 85,000 wooden eggs were rolled during the said event.
The White House staff, however, said it was a strategic move. Vanity Fair reported that the current administration allegedly wanted a much lesser crowd for this year's celebration. To be fair, local military and students who attended this year were pretty much the same as last year, Press Secretary Sean Spicer told New York Daily News.
That's a subtle nudge from Melania to remind Trump to lift his hand during the national anthem... https://t.co/P9XlYpjvcQ
— Daniella Diaz (@DaniellaMicaela) April 17, 2017
Moreover, unlike the former POTUS Obama, the business magnate skipped the tradition of reading classic stories to children. In the past year, Obama read the classic, "Where The Wild Things Are," to egg rollers.
FLOTUS Melania Trump and Press Secretary Spicer took on the president's role and read to the egg rollers. President Trump, however, joined the children for the egg coloring activity.
This year's egg roll celebration also lacked performances from the big stars. In the past years, singers like Beyoncé and Justin Bieber made an appearance during egg roll events. Per Independent, the Trumps' aim for this year's event was to focus on family's quality time.
Reports further said that Melania Trump's communications director, Stephanie Grisham, told CNN that the FLOTUS wanted to "back some traditional elements, like military bands, and focusing on the family itself." Grisham added that they were focused on the quality of the egg rollers' experience, instead of the number of attendees.
The Trump administration did not announce the 139th Egg Roll until March. Some critics believed that the first lady's preparation came last minute.
