Christmas Alive at White House as Melania Trump Welcomes Children

US First Lady Melania Trump hugs children in the East Room as she tours Christmas decorati
AFP PHOTO/SAUL LOEB
Michelle Moons
Washington, DC

First lady Melania Trump welcomed room after room of crafting children to a White House fully adorned on Monday morning with trimmings of the Christmas season.

As she descended a staircase to the front entryway of the White House, the first lady was greeted with a performance from several Vivid Ballet Company dancers performing to live music from The Nutcracker. The dancers were surrounded by snowy trees that flocked the front entry and hall of the White House:

Ballet dancers from Vivid Ballet Company perform to live music from “The Nutcracker” in the White House entryway

After watching the dancers perform from the entry and into the hall, Mrs. Trump walked down to the State Dining Room, where three tables of children were decorating small wreaths. One young girl handed her wreath to the first lady, who held it up and remarked, “So beautiful”:

First Lady Melania Trump visits with children making Christmas wreaths in the White House State Dining Room

She spent time with the children in each White House room she visited, admiring their crafts and engaging with them. They discussed their creations, their Christmas plans, their activities at the White House that day, and they traded a variety of questions:

Children run to hug the First Lady as she enters the White House East Room to join them in crafting evergreen garlands

Eagerly anticipating the first lady in the East Room, nine children shuffled around one large table, straightening their evergreen garlands. As Mrs. Trump entered the room, some of the children began hugging her, which sparked others to run from the other side of the table to join in one big hug. She came around and began helping them with the red bows and gold Christmas balls they were affixing to the fresh garlands. They visited for a while before she moved to the next room:

From the East Room, the first lady moved to the Green Room, where children sat at a small table cutting out silhouettes for a craft. One little girl asked her what her favorite animal is, and she responded that it is a lion:

The Red Room was adored with sweet candy treats. Four children sat creating gumdrop trees at a small round table when the first lady entered and joined in. She remarked how yummy the sweets looked and asked them how old they were. The children responded in unison that they were nine years old and told Mrs. Trump that they had never been to the White House before:

In a portion of the East Wing, several tables of children greeted the first lady. She asked what they were making and wished them a Merry Christmas. The children showed her the cards they were coloring and wished Mrs. Trump a Merry Christmas in return. She sat down at one of the tables and read aloud from one of the cards there:

The First Lady sit with kids making Christmas crafts in the East Wing of the White House

The First Lady walks from one group of children crafting in the East Wing of the White House to another

As Mrs. Trump visited a final crafting station in the East Colonnade, a group of children, who were coloring, greeted her. She sat down, and one little girl took a seat on her lap. A young boy then began reading to the first lady a letter he had written to the troops:

First Lady Melania Trump sits with children in the White House East Wing as one reads from a Christmas letter to the troops

Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana.

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