Donald and Melania Trump put on a very stylish display for their official 2020 Christmas portrait as they prepare to spend their final holiday season as President and First Lady, posing up in matching tuxedoes against a very festive backdrop of the White House‘s grand staircase.
In the image, which was posted on 50-year-old Melania’s official Twitter account on Friday afternoon, the couple are seen posing side-by-side, beaming happily for the camera as they model their coordinating black-and-white looks.
‘Merry Christmas from President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump,’ the tweet read, before revealing that the snap was taken on December 10 by White House photographer Andrea Hanks.
Festive tradition: Donald and Melania Trump have shared their official 2020 Christmas portrait, which shows the couple posing on the grand staircase of the White House in matching tuxedoes
Details: Melania, 50, posted the image on her Twitter account, where she revealed that photo was snapped on December 10 by White House photographer Andrea Hanks
While Donald, 74, opted for a traditional take on the tuxedo, his wife put a very chic spin on the style, wearing a pair of form-fitting black pants with a silk stripe down the sides, and pairing the look with a pair of classic black heels.
On her top half, the First Lady donned a simple white shirt, which was buttoned up to the top, under a long black tuxedo jacket. Melania went all out with the glamor for the shoot; her long brunette locks are swept
During Trump’s presidency, the couple has chosen different settings inside the White House to serve as the backdrop for their official festive portrait, with previous images showing them posing in front of a Christmas tree-lined hallway, and in front of a large double door in Cross Hall.
Chic: Melania put a chic spin on the classic tuxedo, donning form-fitting black pants with a silk stripe down the sides
The couple did not share an official portrait last year, but have brought back the tradition for the final time ahead of the end of Donald’s presidency in January.
And for their final Christmas snap, the couple chose what might be their most festive setting yet, standing on a bright red carpet with the beautifully-decorated staircase behind them. Above their heads, fir garlands can be seen hanging over the doorway that they are posing in.
The image was taken on the same day as the congressional Christmas party, which took place as planned amid the pandemic, as did several other official White House celebrations. It is likely that the outfits worn by the couple in the image are the ensembles they chose for the festive event.
President Trump has posed in the same classic tuxedo for all of the couple’s Christmas portraits, while his wife has been more creative with her outfit choices.
In 2017 for their first White House Christmas portrait, the First Lady donned an elegant black dress – a custom design from one of her favorite brands, Delpozo.
Then in 2018, Melania went with a dazzling long-sleeved white Celine dress that hung below the knees. She paired it with some silver pointed-toe heels.
The couple’s latest festive portrait was shared just over two weeks after Melania unveiled this year’s White House Christmas decorations, along with her chosen festive theme: ‘America the Beautiful’.
Melania shared a video of herself touring the White House on November 30, after the final touches had been made to the decor, and she revealed in a statement that the theme was meant to celebrate ‘the majesty of our great nation’.
‘During this special time of the year, I am delighted to share “America the Beautiful” and pay tribute to the majesty of our great Nation. Together, we celebrate this land we are all proud to call home,’ the mother-of-one wrote on Twitter.
This year, the White House decorations feature a room dedicated to front line workers, ornaments made by children across the country, and a stocking for Barron.
2017: Each year’s Christmas portrait has been taken in a different location inside the White House, with the couple choosing Cross Hall for their first festive photo as President and First Lady
2018: Two years ago, Melania wore a dazzling white dress in the portrait, which was also taken in Cross Hall, but in a different area that better showed off the glittering trees that lined the room
Melania personally selected every detail of the White House’s holiday decor, the East Wing said.
Among the decorations are acknowledgements of the pandemic that has infected more than 17 million Americans and killed more than 311,000.
The Red Room is dedicated to first responders, frontline workers and essential personnel like grocery store employees. The village scene on the fireplace mantel includes a hospital and grocery store.
The library focuses on notable women throughout history with ornaments featuring famous American women like the artist Georgia O’Keefe. The décor includes yellow roses, which was the symbol of the suffragettes. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote.
The China Room, which features examples of the china settings of every administration, is decorated like a kitchen. On the fire place are stockings for the President, First Lady and Barron.
The official White House Christmas Tree – an 18 foot Fraser fir that sits in the Blue Room – features 160 ornaments made from children across the country, who featured an item from their home state on their contribution. The ornament also features their name, age and their home state.
It is decorated with bright yellow bows to contrast the red bows that feature on the trees lining the main hallway through the state rooms.
In the main hallway are several dozen trees decorated in red ornaments with red and red plaid bows. Under the branches are gifts with labels such as ‘faith,’ ‘love,’ and ‘peace’ as a reminder that gifts come in many forms, according to the East Wing.
The traditional gingerbread house – consisting of 275 pounds of gingerbread – is in the shape of the White House with, for the first time, the East and West Wings featured. Included in that is Melania’s revamped Rose Garden, complete with tiny flowers with the stems made out of pasta.
There are other traditional touches such as the White House crèche, now in its 53rd year on display and the Christmas tree dedicated to Gold Star families. That tree is draped in blue, the color of perseverance and justice, and the families who decorated it placed the name of their fallen family member on ribbon that will adorn the tree.
The East Room is dedicated to transportation with trains, planes and automobiles. Included in that is an ornament in the shape of Air Force One and a train labelled ‘White House Express’ that runs on a table in the center of the room. The décor celebrates innovation in technology from the first Transcontinental Railroad to the Apollo 11 lunar landing, including the logo of the Space Force, which was started by President Trump.
The Green Room is dedicated to wildlife and features a special glass panel hanging in each of the two windows – one featuring a deer and one a duck – that the light can shine through. The panels are made of multilayers of glass, giving them a stained glass effect.
The State Dining Room State features trees with decorated with yellow and white roses flowers – roses are the national flower – with custom made gold eagle tree toppers.
The East Colonnade, the site of last year’s infamous red trees, is much more toned back this year. Instead of trees, foliage from various states fill urns that line the walk way.
Melania’s festive decor reveal came two months after a recording was released by her former friend and employee Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, in which the First Lady was heard complaining ‘who gives a f*** about Christmas stuff’ while discussing the traditional task of decorating the executive mansion for the holiday.
The tapes were released when Wolkoff appeared on CNN on October 1, hours before it was announced Melania and Donald tested positive for Covid-19. Wolkoff was promoting her memoir, ‘Melania & Me,’ which portrays the First Lady in an unflattering light.
Melania has blasted the book as ‘idle gossip.’
The taped conversation appears to have taken place shortly after Melania visited an immigration detention center in McAllen, Texas, back in June 2018.
She huffed ‘give me a f***ing break’ while complaining about criticism she received for her husband’s policy of splitting up families who illegally crossed the border while at the same time having to decorate the White House for Christmas. The East Wing begins for the holiday season in June.
‘They say I’m complicit. I’m the same like [President Trump], I support him, I don’t say enough. I don’t do enough,’ Melania says.
‘Where I am. I put – I’m working like a – my a** off – at Christmas stuff that you know, who gives a f*** about Christmas stuff and decoration? But I need to do it, right?
‘Ok, and then I do it. And I say that I’m working on Christmas planning for the Christmas. And they said, ‘Oh, what about the children that they were separated?’
‘Give me a f***ing break. Where they were saying anything when Obama did that?’ she said.