The Easter Egg Roll is one of the oldest White House traditions.
President Donald Trump hosted a large crowd at the White House Easter egg roll, mentioning the cloudy weather as a relief from sunburn worries. He expressed gratitude to the National Park Service for the well-maintained setup.
More than 40,000 people were expected to participate, he said.
Accompanied by the first lady, Melania Trump, and an Easter bunny mascot on the White House balcony, the president extended Easter greetings to everyone present. He remarked on the pleasant weather and initiated some races by blowing a gold-tone whistle with the presidential seal.
During their visit to the egg roll area, the couple engaged in various activities, including overseeing children writing cards for service members. Melania Trump also participated by reading a story called “Bunny with a Big Heart” at a reading corner, which teaches a lesson on kindness through the tale of a rabbit who undergoes a transformative experience while bedridden.
Wooden spoon-wielding children competed against each other to guide hard-boiled eggs dyed pink, blue, yellow and green across a patch of the lawn to a finish line. In some cases, eggs were lobbed into the air instead of rolled across the grass, and at least one wooden spoon went flying through the air.
The participants included some of Trump’s grandchildren — son Don Jr.’s children.
At a special station promoting next year’s 250th anniversary of America’s founding, kids and their families could sign a mini-Declaration of Independence or dress up as Founding Fathers. The daylong event featured multiple activity stations, live performances and story times.
Trump gave a “special thank you” to his wife for her work organizing the annual event.
“I also want to thank the National Park Service,” he said. “The job they do in making everything so beautiful and spiffy, and I’m very difficult when it comes to that. I will tell you, very very difficult. … They have done an incredible job. You just have to look around and see”
The American Egg Board, which has participated in the Easter egg roll for nearly 50 years and has been a lead sponsor for the past decade, donated 30,000 eggs that were hand-dyed by board staff and volunteers, said Emily Metz, board president and CEO.
She said the board understands the frustration felt by egg farmers and consumers over the egg shortage caused by the spread of avian flu and how expensive it’s become to buy a dozen.
Metz said the 2,500 dozen eggs given to the White House were small and medium, sizes not typically sold by retailers, so they will not further strain the supply or contribute to even higher prices. Nearly 9 million dozen eggs are sold daily in the United States, she said.
“We feel like we need to take a moment to celebrate where we can, and you cannot have Easter without eggs. And you cannot have the White House Easter egg roll without real eggs,” Metz said in an interview.
Trump also included topics that had little to do with Easter in his brief remarks, like recruitment gains for the military and police and fire departments. He also said religion was “coming back to America.”
The egg roll is one of the oldest White House traditions. It dates to 1878 and the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes, who opened the lawn to children after Congress banned them from rolling eggs on the grounds of the Capitol.
Tickets for Monday’s event were distributed through a lottery.
