Trumps plan yule parties despite warnings
WASHINGTON — All those warnings from public health officials begging Americans to limit gatherings this holiday season amid a surge in coronavirus cases aren’t stopping the White House from planning a host of festivities and holiday parties in the midst of a pandemic.
Monday’s delivery of an 18and-a-half-foot tall Fraser fir by horse-drawn carriage signaled the kickoff of the usual array of White House holiday events that will include the annual turkey pardon and Christmas and Hanukkah events.
“Attending the parties will be a very personal choice,” said Stephanie Grisham, first lady Melania Trump’s spokeswoman and chief of staff, referring to the plans. “It is a long-standing tradition for people to visit and enjoy the cheer and iconic decor of the annual White House Christmas celebrations.”
The decision to move forward with indoor gatherings and project a sense of normalcy comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, top White House advisers and public health professionals across the nation have been pleading with Americans not to travel for Thanksgiving or spend the holiday with people from outside of their households.
As theweather has cooled, the virus has been spreading out of control, with cases and hospitalizations surging across the nation and more than 250,000people dead.
The White House has already been the site of several suspected “superspreader” events and dozens of staff— along with the president, hiswife and two of his sons — have been infected, along with a long list of campaign aides, oth-
er advisers and allies in Congress.
Grisham said the White House would be taking precautions to provide “the safest environment possible” for those who choose to attend events. That includes smaller guest lists, requiring masks, encouraging social distancing on the White House grounds and hand sanitizer stations placed throughout the State Floor.
“Guests will enjoy food individually plated by chefs at plexiglass-protected food stations. All passed beverages will be covered. All service staff will wear masks and gloves to comply with food safety guidelines,” she said.
Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, warned once again on Monday of the potentially dire consequences of gathering this holiday season.
“We’re in a very difficult situation where the rate of infection, the slope of infections, are really very, very steep. So you might want to reconsider travel plans,” Fauci said in an interview with Washington Post Live. He added that indoor holiday gatherings “as innocent and wonderful as they sound” should be kept to a minimal number of people, preferably “just members of a household” and also warned of a po-
tential “surge superimposed upon a surge” if precautions aren’t taken.
Fauci predicted the country could see “well over” 300,000 deaths by the end of the year “if we don’t we turn things around.”
Not long after, the first lady attended a small outdoor ceremony on the White House driveway to mark the arrival of the large Christmas tree that will adorn the White House Blue Room.
Melania Trump inspected the Fraser fir tree, smiled, waved to cameras and chatted with masked drivers of a carriage pulled by Clydesdale horses as
the brass section of the U.S. Marine Band played Christmas carols.
On Tuesday, the holiday events will continue at the White House as President Donald Trump participates in the annual pardoning of the National Thanksgiving Turkey at a ceremony in the Rose Garden.
The turkeys — Corn and Cob — arrived Sunday at the luxury Willard Inter Continental Hotel in Washington, and photographers were invited there Monday, as they are every year, to capture the fowl strutting around inside their hotel room.