First lady of the United States Melania Trump took to social media on Monday to announce that the White House Rose Garden will receive a facelift over the summer and undergo restoration in line with a 1962 design implemented under then-US President John F. Kennedy’s administration.
A detailed, 241-page landscape report - complete with artist renderings - was released alongside the Monday announcement.
Netizens quickly responded with their own opinions on the “tone-deaf” announcement and appeared mince no words while doing such.
Several Twitter users expressed little surprise at the first lady’s actions, and some even recounted her 2018 “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” coat controversy.
“Preserving the history and beauty of the White House and its grounds is a testament to our nation’s commitment to the care of this landscape and our dedication to American ideals, safeguarding them for our children and their children for generations to come,” the first lady said in a Monday White House release.
Melania Trump’s emphasis on the protection and preservation of history comes after her husband US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on June 26 “protecting public monuments, memorials, and statues from the mob’s ropes and graffiti.”
“My Administration will not allow violent mobs incited by a radical fringe to become the arbiters of the aspects of our history that can be celebrated in public spaces,” he noted in the executive order.
The US president’s 2020 campaign team has since adopted similar language regarding the topic but fumbled on messaging earlier this month when it vowed in an ad that Trump would protect the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.