Newsweek came under heavy fire Tuesday for a misleading headline that appeared to blame first lady Melania Trump for arbitrarily ordering the removal of a 200-year-old tree on the White House lawn.
In truth, it was the U.S. National Arboretum that recommended the historic Jackson Magnolia be removed — and quickly — because it was too damaged and decayed to safely remain in place, CNN reported.
"Mrs. Trump personally reviewed the reports from the United States National Arboretum and spoke at length with her staff about exploring every option before making the decision to remove a portion of the Magnolia tree," Trump's communications director, Stephanie Grisham, told CNN.
"After reviewing the reports, she trusted that every effort had been made to preserve the historic tree and was concerned about the safety of visitors and members of the press who are often standing right in front of the tree during Marine One lifts."
Twitter posters were outraged at the suggestion the popular first lady was ruthlessly whacking a historic tree.
And posters had some easy fixes for the story.
Others saw a blatant effort to smear the first lady.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.