First lady Melania Trump announced on Monday her plan to revamp the Rose Garden, one of the White House’s signature features, as an “act of expressing hope and optimism for the future,” The New York Times reports.
The garden’s new layout will feature an assortment of white and pale pink roses, as well as two limestone walkways, and improved electrics for televised appearances.
The Times notes that President Donald Trump has made the Rose Garden his primary place for “announcing executive actions, boasting about the economy and extending political battles,” and that this move may be an attempt to use “the so-called Rose Garden strategy, coined by political strategists to describe the tactics incumbent presidents use to bolster their campaign efforts,” by holding events in the White House Rose Garden.
“Our country has seen difficult times before, but the White House and the Rose Garden have always stood as a symbol of our strength, resilience and continuity,” the first lady told the Committee for the Preservation of the White House on Monday.
“It’s just such a traditional venue when a president wants to get national attention for something he’s doing or something he’s saying,” Lori Cox Han, professor of political science at Chapman University in California who has written about how the use the Rose Garden, told the newspaper. “There’s not a lot that’s been traditional about this presidency or about how we view the president or the first lady, but for Melania, this is one of those opportunities to be seen as a traditional first lady.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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