In a brazen display of self-promotion, Melania Trump is touting her upcoming book while unapologetically celebrating her controversial overhaul of the most revered garden in American history.
The former first lady has faced immense backlash for her 2020 renovation of the White House Rose Garden, originally designed by Jackie Kennedy in the early 1960s. In a recent video posted on X (formerly Twitter), Melania gleefully showcased her revamped landscaping, complete with staged photos of herself and her book.
“When the committee for the preservation of the White House asked me to renovate the Rose Garden, I felt a deep responsibility to ‘respect tradition and preserve its grandeur for future generations,’” she said, though her actions speak louder than her words. Her “renovation” was met with a storm of criticism, particularly for its timing during the COVID pandemic.
While she promotes her new book, Melania, available October 8, she conveniently glosses over the outrage that erupted following her changes. In fact, more than 50,000 people signed a petition urging First Lady Jill Biden to restore the garden to its “former glory,” denouncing Melania’s redesign as “a boring tribute to herself.” The petition poignantly lamented, “Jackie’s legacy was ripped away from Americans who remembered all that the Kennedys meant to us.”
Historian Michael Beschloss condemned the alterations, tweeting a photo of the garden’s grim transformation with the biting caption, “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.”
In a defensive retort, Melania dismissed Beschloss as “ignorant and dishonorable” on her social media platform, revealing her apparent disregard for the historical significance of what she so carelessly dismantled.
As she gears up for her book launch, one can’t help but wonder: at what cost does Melania’s self-promotion come? The scars of her renovation continue to sting, leaving many to question the integrity of a woman who seems more interested in self-aggrandizement than in honoring the legacy of an American icon.
Check Melania’s video below:
