Easter Egg Roll at the White House overshadowed by the President’s tweeter storm and the news about his forthcoming meeting with Vladimir Putin.
And so we hoped. For a brief Easter break on a never-ending news cycle, a holiday breather in what since the Inauguration has been a combative relationship between the White House press and the Presidency.
It’s Easter, after all, and looking at the children lining up to roll eggs on the South Lawn, offered a joyful, movie set feel on an unusually cold day in Washington D.C.
“Children do not care about the politics, all they want is to roll eggs”, I tweeted observing a diverse group of children of all races in front of me. As we were waiting for the president to show up at the balcony with the First Lady, the Energy Secretary Rick Perry walked onto the South Lawn and took a picture of what seemed to be his granddaughter.
The biggest surprise at the Easter Egg Roll was an appearance of the soon to be divorced couple, Don Jr. and over tanned Vanessa Trump. As they were approaching us, Hogan Gidley moved Jim Acosta to a different press section in what looked like a sophisticated attempt to prevent him from asking any questions. Present at the Easter Egg Roll were also Eric and Lara Trump as well as Tiffany.
What does the military have to do with the Easter Egg Roll?
As the POTUS and FLOTUS showed up at the balcony, any hope that this will be strictly Easter event was shortly dismissed by the political words of the President.
“Our military is now at a level — will soon be at a level that it’s never been before. It’s a — you see what’s happening, and you see what’s happening with funding. The funding of our military was so important. And so many military people are with us today. So just think of $700 billion, because that’s all going into our military this year,” president Trump said as if we were at the military parade and not at the Easter Egg Roll. Shortly after, President Trump walked down the stairs holding hands with the First Lady, Melania. The walkway was perfect for the optics but once they all stepped onto the South Law, they separated. Trump was the first to go back into the residence by himself. He was stopped by Rick Perry who was holding granddaughter in his arms. Trump seemed friendly, but not too friendly. Just from the spectator’s point of view, Trump commands hierarchy, the employer-employee relationship is spelled out in the way he conducts himself in front of those who work for him.
Young Barron Trump walked back into the White House on his own with a member of security detail trying to gauge what was he up to. Flotus stayed behind, engaging with children, smiling and talking to them, displaying a genuine appreciation for the Easter Egg Roll. As we were getting ready to go back into the Briefing Room, the news about the meeting between Putin and POTUS stormed the news cycle and was confirmed promptly by the Press Secretary “As the President himself confirmed on March 20, hours after his last call with President Putin, the two had discussed a bilateral meeting in the ‘not-too-distant future’ at a number of potential venues, including the White House. We have nothing further to add at this time.” With that, we are back on the White House news cycle.
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