Jackie Kennedy, wife of President John F. Kennedy, redesigned the White House Rose Garden. Jackie also redecorates the White House. She was an icon of taste and style.
Melania Trump decided to renovate the Rose Garden. Her efforts have been received with dismay.
What was once a splash of color is now monochromatic white. Some may like this cold aesthetic. Many don’t.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Melania liked a boring lineup of red Christmas trees and, now, a colorless white rose garden with no trees. Jackie Kennedy had good taste and now it is gone. WHY? How much did this waste of money cost?
Does anyone think Melania did that without Trump’s approval? Trump is a known micromanager in all things Trump.
Get serious. Tearing out Jackie’s rose garden was Trump’s idea, but he recruited/ordered his wife to do it so he wouldn’t get the blame.
Trump is planning to stay in the White House for the rest of his life (hopefully, what time Trump has left is measured in minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months and not years) and tearing out that garden and turning it into a sterile hedge was his way to let the country know he is marking the White House as his palace.
What Melania did to that rose garden is the same as Trump pissing on that same ground as a dog does to mark its territory.
Just like yesterday, I read that Trump’s appointee running the DOD was going to cut over $5 billion from the medical care for active-duty troops.
I think Trump ordered his loyalist, fascist minion to say that he was going to do that so Trump could do what he did when he said hours later that he would stop that cut from taking place because he cares about the troops.
Really, does anyone with a rational, open mind think Trump didn’t set that all up (like he did the upside-down Bible stunt) so he would come across as someone that cares?
Trump doesn’t care about anyone or anything. Trump only cares about himself.
“What Melania did to that rose garden is the same as Trump pissing on that same ground as a dog does to mark its territory.” You got that right.
You are right, Bob. Trump wanted that garden removed because it was designed by a Jackie Kennedy. Trump thinks he is better than any poor president so he must remove or destroy what they built, whether it’s Social Security (FDR) or Obamacare or a rose garden.
Melania and Donald live in a gold ensconced penthouse reminiscent of Saddam Hussein’s palaces, demonstrating they are show-off icons of gaudy, tastelessness and dictatorial style.
Clearly, a rose garden now dominated by whiteness is another dog whistle to Trump’s base –all the ones for whom MAGA really means Make America White (Europeans) Again.
How sick that is to make such hallowed ground into another racist political vehicle, while they fight to maintain tributes to Confederates and slavery and close off suburbs to people of color.
The White House, which bunker-boy Trump recently had enclosed in a wall, as well as the garden, both belong to the American people, not to the Trumps, and we will soon be changing all the damage the Trumps have done to our country. That’s because, to rewrite Melania’s previous nasty statement on her jacket when she went to visit immigrant children in cages at the Mexican border, I really do care, don’t you?
Very sad, but really don’t care. So many bigger fish to fry. Catty. I have a dictator to get rid of.
As bad as this is, it’s nothing compared to the Donald Trump aesthetic. Everything he touches, from his living quarters in Trump Tower to his airplane to Mar-a-lago to the redesigned and ruined now Offal Office in the now Whiter House, is a design nightmare. King Con is also King Kitsch, the undisputed champion of the vulgar, tasteless, graceless, trashy, apish, unnatural, overblown, lurid, ignorant, gauche, garish, and grotesque. name a design principle. He violates it.
I guess his handlers wouldn’t allow him to plaster TRUMP WHITE HOUSE in 50-ft golden letters on the now Whiter House roof.
Of course, his taste in design does have one thing going for it: it is a perfect reflection of the man (I use the term man loosely).
I’m a huge fan of wabi-sabi design. The Donald Trump aesthetic is the precise opposite of that. You might call the Don’s style Mobster Rococo on Acid.
or Late Vulgarian
To add to my comment below, Bob touches on a very important subject: aesthetic, which is about much more than beauty or appearances. It is an expression of ideas and ideals. The American aesthetic is borne in democracy, key events, one that is imposed from below. An aesthetic imposed from above is more like the Roman Empire (which gave us the imperial city), Napoleon III (which gave us the modern look of Paris) as well as Speer’s plans for Hitler, Mussolini, the Soviet imprint, especially of Stalin. What separates them from the American aesthetic is that they are not an expression of ideals, but the imposition and enforcement of them.
Brilliant, Greg. Thank you.
“It is an expression of ideas and ideals.” Exactly. The principles of wabi-sabi design:
Fukinsei: Use asymmetry, irregularity.
Kanso: Keep it simple.
Koko: Use basic items and materials that show their origins and history; patina and wear show depth and character and ordinary, human use.
Shizen: Use natural materials and avoid pretentiousness.
Yugen: Give the work a subtly profound grace.
Datsuzoku: Let the work be unbounded by convention, free, respectful of and in imitation of wild nature.
Seijaku: Seek to convey tranquility and mindfulness.
Shibumi: Strive for understatement.
aesthetic, which is about much more than beauty or appearances
Oh yes, yes, yes. So well said, Greg.
Right on, Greg. Reminds us of what other fascists did. Mussolini in particular. For centuries, the approach to St Peter’s was via small crooked paths, leading suddenly around a corner to the vast expanse of colonnade welcoming one to the cathedral. So it was a spiritual experience. Mussollini carved a blatant path—Via della Conziliazione—so you could see that thing coming from far away—a political experience. (Then there’s the Vittoriane, which looks like a giant typewriter…)
So Melanie is deconstructing the Rose Garden and tearing down trees planted by Jackie Kennedy? She seems to be following the example of her husband who is tearing apart our democracy, endorsing dictators, and tearing apart the very fabric of separation of powers that sustain our democracy. Republicans sell out to authoritarianism. Vote them out.
The Rose Garden was actually established by Ellen Wilson, Woodrow Wilson’s first wife, in 1913, shortly after they moved into the White House. Jackie Kennedy redesigned it after renovations to the East Wing. If I may disagree with my friend Robert above, a radical redesign of any American institution is not “catty.” A nation needs its symbolic institutions, they relay a feeling of consistency, of needed traditions. One of the traditions that is being destroyed is the hallowed role the Rose Garden has played in the past century. It is (or was) the most apolitical place in the most political of places, the site of announcements reflecting national pain, solemnity, and celebration. Until this so-called administration, it was never the site of political opportunism or advocacy. Like the National Archives and the Library of Congress, it is a symbol of national unity, seemingly another relic of the past.
Well said, Greg.
Have you viewed the plans? Entrances have been improved, the yard has been expanded for meetings and dining. The trees are planned to be relocated on the grounds and I would guess that plans were made for the rose bushes. Let’s see what it looks like when it is allowed to mature a little. White roses happen to be magnificent along with the other pastels she has planted. Her design sense is exceptional. Do you really believe that amazing lady would put up junk? Look at her!!!
Remember, April, the proper etiquette is to extend the right arm, hand extended straight, in line with the angle of the arm, fingertips at eye level. Feet together, spine erect, and hold for 3-5 seconds with no movement except to say, “Heil.” In crowds, it is acceptable to raise the arm higher in the interest of space and to create an overwhelming sense of unity. Only the Führer is allowed the luxury of a bent arm.
What would Don the Con be like if he had ever matured even a tiny bit?
But yes, Melania, or as Trump sometimes calls her in his Toddler English tweets, Melanie, looks quite elegant, doesn’t she, in all those pictures with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
April Featherkile; “Do you really believe that amazing lady would put up junk? Look at her!!!”
She picked Trump for a husband. I’d say her sense of ‘amazing’ is different from mine. I look for a sense of decency and compassion, not just money. She definitely picked up junk.
Trump’s sense of ‘beauty’ in design is gaudy.
Did you like her all red Christmas trees? I’ve seen better.
Hey, give this amazing lady credit. After the 2016 election, she refused to move to DC until Donald renegotiated the pre-nup. She saw what he did to wife #2, Marla Maples, who was tossed aside with only $2 million. Something tells me we will hear more about how Melania took care of #1, herself.
In keeping with the usual MO of our fascist pathological narcissist in chief, the splash screen for the televised coverage of the Repugnican National convention has TRUMP 2020 in enormous letters and The Republican National Convention in tiny ones.
It’s all about Glorious Leader Who Shines More Orange than the Sun. The Republican Party no longer exists. It’s the Trump Party, the Trump Limbo Party, motto, “How low, how low, how low can we go!” Kids in cages? Inject disinfectant? Abandon allies to be slaughtered? Withhold military aid to an ally at war with Russia for a quid pro quo? Pay off the porn stars? Withdraw from the INF and the Open Skies Treaties at the very time when Russia has developed hypersonic nuclear missiles? Threaten to withdraw from NATO? Pretend to be a Christian?
Evidently, no low is too low. It’s a brand new day in America.
“Do you really believe that amazing lady would put up junk? Look at her!!!”
I’m looking. I see a cosmetic-surgery-enhanced former model imported from E Europe as a suitable partner for a soulless materialist. Who wears an “I Really Don’t Care Do U””-emblazoned designer jacket wh
en visiting a TX site where immigrant children are separated from their parents. If that’s your idea of class, go figure.
A far cry from Jackie. Or Michelle, or Laura, or Hillary, or Barbara, or … etc including Mamie or any of the rest.
You have to see the photos of Melania before her facial surgery.
Interesting, isn’t it, that the one living previous Republican president (Bush, Jr.), the previous Republican presidential candidate (Romney), and the spouse of another previous Republican presidential candidate (McCain) won’t appear at the Trump Convention. Why? It’s no longer the Republican Party. It’s the Trump Party. This is Glorious Leader fascist personality cultism. Decent people won’t have anything to do with Don the Con.
April,
Have you ever gone to the Internet and googled the photos of Melania posing in the nude?
She was a model and that’s what some models do.
Jackie Kennedy was the essence of style and class.
Melania is the essence of crass.
Jackie Kennedy and Eleanor Roosevelt were the two most beloved and respected first ladies In U.S. history, and neither was a subservient house wife. Kennedy was a sophisticated academic, a journalism publisher. Her touches to the Rose Garden were not meaningless decorations. I mention this because Dr Jill Biden will be a scholarly First Lady, lovely but the opposite of an underwear model.
I typed my comment before I saw what you wrote, Diane, then got distracted by a phone call. We are of the same mind on this!
April may be forming her opinions at a country club where her Republican girls club meets to share bogus info. about candidates-a gravitas pretense.
If re-elected, expect to see every Federal building renamed for a Trump or his children.the Ivanka Trump National Archives. The Eric Trump Smithsonian Institution. The Don Trump Jr. National Archives.
I believe that would be the Trumponian Insititution
All-white flowers to symbolize whom Trump represents as President?
But if that’s the symbolism they are going for, they should reduce the roses to one tiny plot of white ones, symbolizing rich white people.
Or the complete surrender of American democracy.
LOL. Yes, well said, Greg.
Surrender of democracy- Nancy Pelosi endorsing heir to the royal family, Joe Kennedy III, instead of backing the incumbent-
Blacklisting by establishment Dems’ reversed to elect a centrist fundraiser.
If I lived in Massachusetts, I would vote for Ed Markey. He has been a stand-up progressive Democrat for many years. Joe Kennedy should wait his turn.
I think we are indeed privy to seeing Melania cutting down the roses;
Ha,ha,ha–very funny, Robert!
Indeed, we CAN see the renovated Rose Garden. Melania will be making her speech there, tonight.
&, yes, I was thinking about the symbolism of the “white” plantings, removal of all colorful & beautiful plants, flowers & trees.
& just how much did this cost US? How could this money have been much, much better spent?
This is very close to “let them eat cake,” &, in the midst of the economic collapse, pandemic cases & deaths, wildfires, hurricanes & other national catastrophes, extremely oligarchical & inappropriate.
But we have learned to not expect better.
Shouldn’t the flowers be orange?
White Rose Supremacy
When Trump arose
A rose was trumped
The non-white rose
Was simply dumped
Perfect, SomeDAM. A gem!
Foolean* Logic
If colored rose were meant to be
Then colored House is what we’d see
But House is White and so is rose
The logic’s tight, so I suppose
*Named for it’s originator, George W. M. D. Fool
If JFK and RFK weren’t murdered and EMK never cheated, all 3 could have been back to back presidents:
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
(1961-1965 & 1965-1969) ,
Robert Francis Kennedy
(1969-1973 & 1973-1977) &
Edward Moore Kennedy
(1977-1981 & 1981-1985)
😊😁
Wait–what’s your point, Eddie? (Just asking out of curiosity, not a criticism of your comment.)
The world would have been much better. 😁
Some (not I , of course) might say that’s precisely why JFK, MLK and RFK were murdered.
I’ll pass on the one running in MA right now. He’s a horror story, and Markey is superior to him.
If MLK had not been murdered and had become President, Obama could have been a back to black President.
Yes, this is true, with maybe Shirley Chisholm and Jesse Jackson too. 😊
Jimmy Carter said Edward Kennedy blocked Medicare for All when it was within grasp.
While we are dwelling on aesthetics, you should know about two of Trump’s proposed projects.
One is to follow the advice of some ultra-conservative architects who insist that all Federal Buildings conform to the neoclassical tradition, with no echo of modernism, especially poured concrete and excess glass. Marble is best plus classical columns doric, or ionic, or corinthian. So far, Trump has not acted on this proposal.
But Trump’s big effort in the realm of visual culture is a new Garden of Heroes where only statues with “literal depictions” would be permitted.
In an Executive order dated July 3, 2020, Trump not only ranted about the “destruction of our history” by removing heroes of the Civil War but also set forth his vision for a new park.
The National Garden of American Heroes will be “a vast outdoor park that will feature the statues of the greatest Americans who have ever lived. We will honor extraordinary citizens from every community and from every place and from every part of our nation. Great men and great women, people that we can look up to forever. Families will be able to walk among the statues of titans, and we have already selected the first 30 legacies and 30 legends.”
Here is the list of legends in alphabetical order.
John Adams, Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, Daniel Boone, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Henry Clay, Davy Crockett, Frederick Douglass, Amelia Earhart, Benjamin Franklin, Billy Graham, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Douglas Mac-Arthur, Dolley Madison, James Madison, Christa McAuliffe, Audie Murphy, George S. Patton, Jr., Ronald Reagan, Jackie Robinson, Betsy Ross, Antonin Scalia, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, George Washington, and Orville and Wilbur Wright.
According to the Executive Order (EO), the planning work for “Building and Rebuilding Monuments to American Heroes” is delegated to an interagency task force. The National Garden should be open before July 4, 2026, and before the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. You can read all of the rants and full text of his EO here. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/07/08/2020-14872/building-and-rebuilding-monuments-to-american-heroes
See also this discussion of Trump’s visual culture campaign. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-09/what-trump-s-garden-of-heroes-could-look-like
For a less than two-minute “radical left” response to Trump’s executive order, prepared by the “Monument Lab” an independent public art and history studio based in Philadelphia” go to: https://youtu.be/6qbjXUM3oxI
Most recent memorials and monuments are the result of design competitions. As some may recall, one of the most moving and initially vilified memorials is the 1982 Veterans War Memorial, proposed by Maya Lyn, then 21 and a student in architecture at Yale. Maya Lyn spoke about issues in creating memorials during a 1987 conference I helped to organize. She was then working on the Civil Rights Memorial. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Lin#cite_note-Favorite_185–205-10
How did they miss Don Knotts in the list of legends? This is a glaring omission.
Agreed.
Also Bob Denver (Gilligan)
And Larry, Moe and Curly
And of course, Kim Kardashian.
when the Tennessee State legislature was fighting over the 19th amendment in the summer of 1920, Opponents of the Susan B. Anthony amendment wore red roses, and those who favored the extension of the right to vote to women wore yellow roses. They called it the War of the roses. 19th won by a slim majority.
I’m sorry, but if you are a POC who stands up and defends Donald Trump, you are an enabler of a racist. If you are a soldier or veteran who defends Donald Trump, you are an enabler of a traitor. If you are a woman who defends Donald Trump, you are an enabler of a serial sexual predator who works to take away women’s basic rights. If you are a middle-class person or small business person who defends Donald Trump, you are an enabler of someone who steals from people like you to give to the wealthy. If you are an LGBTQX person who defends Donald Trump, what are you, nuts? If you are a Christian who defends Donald Trump, you are defending the least Christlike man ever to occupy the White House.
And if you are Donald Trump, you have to run against who you are in order to win sufficient votes to continue the con.
Well said.
The person I understand least is Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina.
Check out the character played by Samuel L. Jackson on Django Unchained and it’ll give you an insight into what kind of person Scott likely is.
KIMBERLEY GUILFOYLE (shouting crazily at the top of her lungs): We kneel in prayer while simultaneously standing to watch the flag go by. Like Jerry Falwell, Jr., we like to watch.
I guess that we shall see over the coming weeks how well he falls.
Farewell Falwell
Farewell Jerry Falwell
Many knew you well
Also knew your lovely wife
As near as I can tell
Replacing vibrant diverse colors with a dominant all-white scheme… sounds about right.
Thanks for the photo. Where’s the Putin statue at the WH?
XLV is going to make Russia pay for it.
Bannon is collecting funds as we speak.
“Russia’s going to pay for it” which means Bannon will raise the funds from gullible right wing Americans.
I put a post on the U-tube video and someone replied that the renovation was paid for my private funds. Does anyone know if this is true?
This disaster reflects the Trump administration. Melania Trump’s garden is bleak, soulless, austere; not the Rose Garden of our memory or the vibrant soul of our future.
Well said, Jon!
In my opinion, the old rose garden without the white border looked more like Gorky Park.
https://images.app.goo.gl/MVZi5KVrKLeyFhuv9
But who am I to question Johnny Cache?
White border on inside, that is
Eddie–Thanks for your answer at 7:15 PM yesterday.
You’re welcome, retired but miss the kids. 🙂