Look: Highlights of the First Family’s First Year in the White House

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 09: Republican president-elect Donald Trump acknowledges the crowd
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Penny Starr

Since President Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States, the media coverage has had a decidedly negative spin.

But the president, first lady Melania Trump, their son Barron, and the rest of the Trump family have enjoyed their first year in the White House. And aside from the president’s accomplishments, including historic tax reform and the installation of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, his family has also marked milestones over the past year.

“This has been a year filled with many wonderful moments. I’ve enjoyed the people I’ve been lucky enough to meet throughout our great country & the world!” the first lady wrote on Saturday.

Here are some of the highlights:

— At a pre-inauguration concert, President Trump spoke about his election and his agenda going forward. He said, in part:

We’re going to make America great for all of our people, everybody throughout our country. That includes the inner cities, that includes everybody and we’re going to do a special job and I can only tell you that 18 months ago, we never knew, some people didn’t know, some had a feeling but a lot of people didn’t give us much of a chance but we understood what was happening.

On the campaign, I called it the forgotten men and the forgotten women. Well, you’re not forgotten anymore.

I want to thank my great family, my incredible wife Melania, they’ve been so supportive and it wasn’t easy for them. They have been so supportive.

I want to thank you most importantly. I promise you, I will work so hard. We’re going to get it turned around, we’re going to bring our jobs back, we’re not going to let other countries take our jobs anymore.

We’re going to build up our great military, we’re going to build it up, we’re going to strengthen our borders, we’re going to do things that haven’t been done for our country for many, many, decades.

— In April 2017, the first lady’s official portrait was unveiled.

USA Today reported:

Trump, 46, a former fashion model, is pictured from just below the waist up, wearing a black blazer and a black, sparkly scarf tied around her neck. Her arms are crossed with her left hand in front, where a huge diamond ring glitters on her ring finger; the 25-carat sparkler was a 10th-anniversary gift from her husband.

“I am honored to serve in the role of first lady, and look forward to working on behalf of the American people over the coming years,” Trump said.

— In June, following the conclusion of the school year, the first lady and 11-year-old Barron Trump moved into the White House.

Time reported:

The First Lady had opted to stay in the couple’s New York City apartment in Trump Tower until Barron finished up the school year. When the term resumes, Barron will attend St. Andrews Episcopal School in the capital.

The White House’s newest occupants arrived Sunday aboard the Marine One helicopter, NBC News reports. Barron will reportedly be the first young boy to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. since John F. Kennedy, Jr. in 1963.

“Looking forward to the memories we’ll make in our new home!” the first lady tweeted.

— In September 2017, first lady Melania Trump spoke at the United Nations.

“When we join together as parents caring for children, whether they live in our own families, across the street, across the nation, or across the globe, we claim our responsibility to the next generation to ensure they are prepared to accept the torch of leadership for the world of tomorrow,” the first lady said during the speech.

“We must teach each child the values of empathy and communication,” she also said, adding that children “are the core of kindness, mindfulness, integrity and leadership.”

—  In September, President Trump’s son Eric and his wife, Lara, welcomed their son, Eric Luke Trump, the president’s ninth grandchild.

— In September 2017, Frank “FX” Giaccio, of Falls Church, Virginia, the 11-year-old who had his wish to mow the White House lawn told Breitbart News that it was “really cool” to meet President Donald Trump, “especially after he retweeted me.”

Trump tweeted a video of FX shortly after they met in the White House Rose Garden.

— In October, first lady Melania Trump traveled to Huntington, West Virginia, on Tuesday to visit a drug treatment center specializing in helping infants suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome after exposure to opioids while in their mother’s womb.

Trump visited Lily’s Place, a non-profit drug treatment center where these babies are being treated.

“The statistic that 40 percent of babies born addicted to drugs are put into foster care is one that Mrs. Trump would like to see lowered, and Lily’s Place was created with that in mind,” Stephanie Grisham, spokesperson for the first lady, said in an interview with CNN.

— In November, the White House released its first official Christmas ornament, which featured the presidential coat of arms.

Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s spokeswoman, said the ornaments would be given away as gifts and there would be no plan to sell them.

— In December, the White House revealed its first official Christmas portrait.

During his campaign, Trump said he would reverse the Obama-era war on Christmas.

— Barron Trump has made a few public appearances since moving into the White House.

CNN reported:

The youngest of the President’s five children, Barron Trump, now 11, lives with his parents at the White House. Following his move to Washington in June, Trump has settled into St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland, where he is in sixth grade.

The first lady has made an effort to give her son as much of a normal life as possible, and Barron Trump has made rare public appearances this year, joining his parents at the Easter Egg Roll, donning his eclipse glasses in August on the Truman balcony, and flying on Marine One and Air Force One on weekend trips to Bedminster and Mar-a-Lago.

But it’s clear that Barron, an avid soccer player, has taken advantage of the White House grounds — a goal post is set up in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden alongside the East Colonnade.

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