Did Melania Trump really ruin the White House Rose Garden? Former First Lady claps back at accusations she ‘eviscerated’ it, as 80,000 sign petition to restore garden to its prior state
Former US first lady Melania Trump recently ripped into a presidential historian who had criticised the renovations she did on the White House Rose Garden.
Michael Beschloss, an NBC contributor and historian who specialises in the US presidency, took to Twitter on Saturday, August 7, to lambast Trump’s changes as an “evisceration” and affront to American history.
Evisceration of White House Rose Garden was completed a year ago this month, and here was the grim result—decades of American history made to disappear: @dougmillsnyt pic.twitter.com/78OqjkoOPt
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) August 7, 2021
“Evisceration of White House Rose Garden was completed a year ago this month, and here was the grim result – decades of American history made to disappear,” Beschloss wrote, alongside a picture of the garden from last year that doesn’t show many flowers.
The Twitter account for the Office of Melania Trump retweeted the post, accusing Beschloss of being “misleading” and doubting his credibility as a historian.
.@BeschlossDC has proven his ignorance by showing a picture of the Rose Garden in its infancy. The Rose Garden is graced with a healthy & colorful blossoming of roses. His misleading information is dishonorable & he should never be trusted as a professional historian. https://t.co/LU243SANF1 pic.twitter.com/PuVOSjxx5w
— Office of Melania Trump (@OfficeofMelania) August 8, 2021
“@BeschlossDC has proven his ignorance by showing a picture of the Rose Garden in its infancy. The Rose Garden is graced with a healthy and colourful blossoming of roses,” the tweet said, alongside a photo of the Rose Garden that shows more flowers in bloom. “His misleading information is dishonourable and he should never be trusted as a professional historian.”
Trump announced in July 2020 that she would be renovating the Rose Garden, which is frequently used by American presidents for speeches and other appearances. The renovation was revealed in August of last year.
This year, a petition asking first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff to undo Trump’s changes and restore the garden to its prior state has garnered more than 80,000 signatures.
Some people had criticised the removal of 10 crabapple trees, which the White House said were moved elsewhere on the White House grounds, and the removal of some colourful flowers.
But Reuters reported many of the widely shared claims about Trump’s renovations were false.
A photo of the Rose Garden shared by Jill Biden in May shows colourful flowers that cannot be seen in the photo Beschloss posted. Biden captioned the photo, “Spring is here at the @WhiteHouse!”
