First lady Melania Trump's second appearance in public since the US election was all smiles as she presented the White House Christmas tree without her husband. Video / Agencia EFE via AP
First lady Melania Trump's second appearance in public since the US election was more upbeat than her last one.
It was November 11 and the President's wife wore a tweed jacket and a sombre look on her face as she arrived for a Veteran's Day ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
Today, she beamed as she celebrated the arrival of the annual White House Christmas tree. She did so alone, without President Trump or their son, Barron Trump, who have attended the event every year but were nowhere to be seen this time around.
Melania Trump walks around the 2020 official White House Christmas tree after it arrived at the White House. Photo / AP
The first lady stood by the 18-foot (5.5m) Fraser fir tree — which had been harvested from a farm in West Virginia — outside the North Portico of the White House around midday on Monday.
A reporter shouted an inquiry about the wellbeing of the president but the New York Post reports Melania ignored the question and told reporters simply: "Merry Christmas."
The annual celebration had all the usual charm — two large Clydesdale horses transported the tree down the White House's northern driveway as a military band played "O Tannenbaum" and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing".
The latest appearance comes after a recording released earlier this year by her former friend and employee Stephanie Winston Wolkoff shows Melania complaining "who gives a f*** about Christmas stuff" while discussing the traditional first lady task of decorating the executive mansion for the holiday.
The 2018 tapes were released when Wolkoff appeared on CNN on October 1, hours before it was announced Melania and Donald Trump tested positive for Covid-19. Wolkoff was promoting her memoir, Melania & Me, which portrays the first lady in an unflattering light.
Melania Trump has blasted the book as "idle gossip".
The first lady was all smiles as she welcomed the tree and posed for photos. Photo / AP
The Post reports the president is expected to partake in a different holiday tradition this week: the lighthearted pardoning of turkeys before Thanksgiving.
Inside the White House, Trump continues to claim victory in the US election but various legal challengers in states where he lost the count have failed.
"In certain swing states, there were more votes than people who voted, and in big numbers," he tweeted on Monday.
Tapes from 2018 reportedly show Melania complaining 'who gives a f*** about Christmas stuff' while discussing the first lady task of decorating the executive mansion for the holiday. Photo / AP
"Does that not really matter? Stopping Poll Watchers, voting for unsuspecting people, fake ballots and so much more. Such egregious conduct. We will win!"
In certain swing states, there were more votes than people who voted, and in big numbers. Does that not really matter? Stopping Poll Watchers, voting for unsuspecting people, fake ballots and so much more. Such egregious conduct. We will win!
In an extraordinary step of distancing himself from one of the top lawyers trying to keep him in power over the weekend, he effectively dumped Sidney Powell.
The lawyer had been one of the most high-profile of the President's supporters and also the most willing to posit bizarre theories as to why the election had been lost including that a long dead dictator had rigged voting machines.
According to the Washington Post, one campaign official said "she was too crazy even for the President".
Melania Trump stands next to the 2020 official White House Christmas tree. Photo / AP
A Trump campaign statement said Powell was "on her own". She replied that she "understood" the statement but would carry on the legal campaign regardless.
The Democrat has promised to unite Americans despite their political leanings and to bring the coronavirus — which has seen cases spike in almost every state in recent weeks — back under control.
The First family has other problems to consider, too. Donald Trump Jr. has been diagnosed with Covid-19 — a month after his father was treated for the virus — but the President says his son is doing "very well" and showing no symptoms.
