During President Donald Trump’s first term, First Lady Melania Trump went viral for complaining about her Christmas decorating responsibilities. A leaked rant from the first lady made it sound like she was not particularly interested in decorating the White House for the holidays, but she’s back at it anyway. On Wednesday, October 8, she shared a short clip that showed her preparing for the holiday season at the White House. Much to some people’s surprise, this year’s decorations look like actual Christmas decorations for once.
In the past, people had questions about Melania’s decor choices.
The People’s House @WhiteHouse is ready to celebrate Christmas and the holiday season! pic.twitter.com/oejKW3mC15
— Melania Trump 45 Archived (@FLOTUS45) November 26, 2018
You might remember the unconventional White House Christmas decor Melania selected in 2018: cone-shaped red trees. It’s certainly an interesting aesthetic choice, but perhaps not the most interesting one Melania has made. To many, the red trees felt a bit unsettling, but not nearly as dark and spooky as her 2017 decor.
Unsurprisingly, the unusual decorations led to a lot of memes and jokes on social media. On X, one person joked, “‘Merry Christmas. This year’s theme is lightning striking the wilderness.’ -Melania‘s first and only email to White House staff.”
In another viral X post, someone wrote, “The design aesthetic of the Trump women is ‘the rotting void inside of us.'”
The design aesthetic of the Trump women is “the rotting void inside of us” pic.twitter.com/1Py9GgLfYf
— Jess Dweck (@TheDweck) November 28, 2017
Apparently, Melania is not a big fan of decorating for Christmas.
Although some people defended Melania’s decor choices, it sounds like she didn’t really enjoy the process. In 2020, a 2018 recording of Melania venting about Christmas was leaked to CNN. In it, she said, “I’m working … my a– off on the Christmas stuff, that you know, who gives a f— about the Christmas stuff and decorations? But I need to do it, right? OK, and then I do it and I say that I’m working on Christmas and planning for the Christmas and they said, ‘Oh, what about the children that they were separated?’ Give me a f—— break.”
It’s been nearly seven years now, so maybe she’s changed? But people have their doubts. Reacting to her recent holiday decor teaser on Reddit, someone wrote, “Melania, you were so right, no one gives a f— about your White House Christmas.”
Another critic wrote, “I thought that she didn’t want to do the fkn decorations.”
This year’s decorations don’t appear to be all that spooky.
Christmas meeting in the @WhiteHouse ✨ pic.twitter.com/58NXq6Rdri
— Office of the First Lady (@FirstLadyOffice) October 8, 2025
On October 8, Melania captioned the short clip of this year’s Christmas decor with, “Christmas meeting in the @WhiteHouse.”
Though it was just a sneak peak, people noticed that this year’s decorations actually appeared to look like traditional Christmas decorations. “Finally, Christmas decorations that don’t look like a Halloween party,” one person wrote on X.
But given that it’s only a teaser, Melania still has time to surprise us again this year.
