First lady tries to smooth tensions at presidential tree ceremony
Controversies put her back in familiar role
As outrage continued to ricochet around the nation’s capital over President Donald Trump’s initial cursory tribute to John McCain, first lady Melania Trump appeared on the South Lawn to offer not an olive branch of peace, but an oak tree of decorum.
She honored a gathering of presidential descendants who are in town for a summit with a visit to the White House and a ceremonial tree planting on the South Lawn. The visit had been in the works for months, and the first lady’s office announced it last week, before McCain’s death.
But, what might have been a staid event in any other White House took on a note of tension in this one, as the first lady again assumed the role of edge-smoother in chief.
Melania Trump made her way through a patch of wood chips in pink Louboutin heels and picked up a gold shovel, ready to work. Standing between a granddaughter of Dwight Eisenhower and a fifth-generation descendant of James Monroe, she helped plant a sapling of the White House’s Eisenhower oak tree. The sapling replaced a tree that fell during a windstorm in March.
The first lady warmly touched Mary Jean Eisenhower on the arm before shaking her hand and told the more than two dozen descendants of former presidents that it was “a very special day.” And she thanked the National Park’s Service for “doing an amazing job in keeping the White House grounds in beautiful shape.”
The first lady’s appearance was brief – just three minutes of shoveling, handshaking and smiling – but insistently cordial.
But her diplomatic overtures – which often strike a chord of independence, as much as graciousness – have not been without missteps. She boarded the plane to the visit the border shelters wearing a jacket that read, “I really don’t care, do u?”
Anita McBride, who served as chief of staff to Laura Bush and helped organized this week’s summit of presidential descendants, says the East Wing of the White House has often been called upon to ameliorate relationships strained by the West Wing.
“That is a role that first ladies throughout our history have always played. They’re not the elected official – they get to rise above the rhetoric,” says McBride. “They always play the bridge builder.”
The first lady’s office has not announced whether she will attend McCain’s funeral at Washington National Cathedral on Saturday, or honor the late senator while he lies in state at the Capitol on Friday. But, aside from Vice President Pence, she might be the White House’s only option.
Her husband is not welcome.