First lady Melania Trump is gearing up for her most talked-about job of the year. Her X account dropped a short clip on Wednesday that shows her carefully setting a white and gold ornament on a table dressed for the holidays. The caption reads “Christmas meeting in the White House.” It’s just a peek, but it signals the return of something we remember well from the first Trump term. The annual debate over her holiday style.
Back then, Melania’s choices drew a ton of attention and a steady stream of jokes. In 2017, a photo posted by then press secretary Stephanie Grisham turned a White House hallway into what many thought looked like a haunted forest straight off a metal album cover. Even though much of the rest of the decor was more traditional, that one image set the tone. Cold. Moody. A little spooky.
The next year came the red trees. Commenters compared them to the red cloaks from The Handmaid’s Tale, and the memes basically wrote themselves. The 2019 and 2020 displays were received with less intensity, but the narrative had already stuck. Then came the leaked tapes in 2020 that made it worse for her reputation as a Christmas Grinch.
She was recorded in 2018 saying to former close friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, “I’m working like—my a– off—on Christmas stuff, you know? Who gives a f— about Christmas stuff and decorations? But I need to do it, right?
“Then I do it. And I say that I’m working on Christmas planning for the Christmas. And they said, ‘Oh, what about the children that were separated?’ Give me a f—ing break. Where they were saying anything when Obama did that?”
Those comments landed during a fierce public fight over the Trump administration’s family separation policy at the border. That context fueled the backlash and turned her holiday work into a bigger conversation about the administration’s priorities.
Now it is 2025 and the setup feels familiar. As Melania prepares to decorate again, the administration’s immigration approach is under heavy fire. Reports of families separated and children detained during ICE raids have drawn wide criticism. The timing is hard to miss. Holiday cheer on one hand and a storm of policy controversy on the other.
So what happens this time? The video hints at a white and gold palette, which could be a safer, more classic direction. If she leans traditional, it might quiet the meme machine. If she swings for bold statement pieces, expect another season of side by side comparisons and Twitter threads ranking every tree and hallway. Either way, the first lady’s aesthetic has become a national spectator sport.
There is also the question of whether public opinion has shifted since those earlier years. Some people may be ready to separate the decorations from the politics. Others will see the holiday display as a symbol of the administration’s image-making and judge it through that lens.
For now, all anyone can do is watch the hints drop and wait for the full reveal. The White House typically unveils its holiday look at the end of November. When those doors open and the cameras roll, we will find out if Melania goes cozy and classic or once again gives the internet something wild to talk about. Either way, Christmas at the White House is back in the spotlight.