A vision of American pastoral life visited the south lawn of the White House on Monday as US president Donald Trump hosted the centuries-old tradition of the White House Easter Egg roll. It was an hour or two of almost-escapism for the Trump administration from its ongoing ideological battles with its political adversaries and the Supreme Court amid its ongoing ambition to reshape the future of the United States.
President Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, stepped out onto the balcony of the south portico just before 11am. The scene that faced them was that of a perfectly synchronised American idyll. Children, befrocked and best-shirted, engaged in the ancient frivolity of rolling painted Easter eggs with wooden spoons while parents looked on.
The US Army Old Guard and Fife and Drum Corps had played a series of traditional military tunes before the president’s Own Marine Band entertained the crowd with jazz riffs. The columns and arch of the south portico were wreathed in floral bouquets of Easter hues. The south lawn was a riot of colour. During his balcony address, Trump remembered Pope Francis, telling the gathering he had just signed an executive order that all federal and state flags fly at half-mast in mourning after the pontiff’s passing.
“He’s a very good man who loved the world and he especially loved people that were having a hard time, and that’s good with me.”
Then, President Trump moved through his people and demonstrated once again his unique ability to issue messages that intermingle darkness and light. The sentiments of his Easter message, posted on Truth Social, were laden with the preoccupations of the administration as it attempts to fend off increasing criticisms of its deportation policy, most recently involving the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the El Salvadoran man who was arrested by Ice (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officials in Maryland and deported back to his country.
Maryland democratic senator Chris van Hollen on Sunday returned from El Salvador after visiting Garcia. Four Democratic House representatives arrived there on Monday, to push for his release on the grounds that he was wrongly deported and denied due process. The Supreme Court has ordered his return. The Trump administration is insisting that Garcia is a member of the terrorist group MS 13. That controversy informed the opening paragraph of President Trump’s Easter blessing, posted on Sunday.
“Happy Easter to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting and scheme so hard to bring murderers, drug lords, dangerous prisoners, the mentally insane, and well-known MS 13 gang members and wife beaters back into our country. Happy Easter also to the weak and ineffective judges and law enforcement officials who are allowing this sinister attack on our nation to continue.”
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth watches children participate in the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on Monday. Photograph: Anna Moneymaker/Getty
Early on Monday morning, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that the return of Garcia is “never going to happen”.
“Not only is this an MS 13 gang member, but he is also an illegal alien who broke this country’s laws to come here. We have a legal immigration system for a reason. The president is going to continue to uphold that.”
Leavitt attended the Easter Roll festivities with her husband and young family. Also present was FBI director Kash Patel and defence secretary Pete Hegseth, who was once again the source of news stories that he had shared classified military information in a group chat, that this time included family members.
“Here we go again,” Trump said, his features clouding at a question.
“Just a waste of time. Pete’s doing a great job. Ask the Houthis how he is doing. Everybody is happy with him. We have had the highest recruitment numbers we have had in years. It is just fake news. They bring up stories – it sounds like disgruntled employees. He was put there to get rid of a lot of bad people, so that’s what he is doing.”
As he moved through the various fenced-off sections of the carnival, Trump supervised the egg races and sat down at a table to join kids with crayons and colouring pads. It was clear the moment tickled him.
“I’m really into this. It’s tough, We don’t have a white crayon, so what am I going to do? Leave the whole thing white, I guess.”
Trump would have known that the moment will be seized upon by the late-night talk show satirists. But he has an easy, comfortable way about him with youngsters. He continued to move through the fair. From the portico, he had thanked the parks service “for making everything so beautiful and spiffy – and I’m very difficult when it comes to that”.
And as he made his way back indoors, he continued addressing his broad vision for making America beautiful and spiffy, too. The price of eggs had, over election year, become a metaphor for the cost-of-living crisis that has gripped all of the states. Some 30,000 eggs were used for this White House Easter Roll extravaganza – which was, for the first time, sponsored by corporations including Meta and Amazon. The American Eggs Board confirmed that the eggs used were smaller than those used for general consumption. Meanwhile, President Trump reiterated his conviction that falling egg prices are just the beginning.
“We’ll be fine. We will ultimately have a deal. Energy is down the most it’s been in years. It’s actually a dollar-ninety-eight [per gallon of fuel] recently in a couple of states. I think we are doing really well. We’re all set. There’s a little bit of transition and it’s going to happen. I think we are going to be the strongest we have ever been as a nation.”
Elsewhere, the first lady read Bunny With A Big Heart by Marilyn Sadler in the reading nook. It’s a parable of a forgetful rabbit who injures himself, has an enforced period of recuperation, and learns to be kinder to his family. In the garden, babies cried and older children laughed as the games continued. The rain held off. Delighted parents took photographs for the albums. And for posterity.
