--- title: Melania Trump Plans to Preserve Michelle Obama's Garden description: First Lady Melania Trump said she plans to maintain former First Lady Michelle Obama's famous White House vegetable garden canonical: https://time.com/4668035/melania-trump-michelle-obama-vegetable-garden/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-11T21:32:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:16:21.598Z article:section: Politics og:title: Melania Trump Plans to Preserve Michelle Obama's Vegetable Garden og:description: Michelle Obama had hoped the garden would be maintained by future administrations og:url: https://time.com/4668035/melania-trump-michelle-obama-vegetable-garden/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a51d747736bbe5e/6988b9cc656a3f1c27bcebd1/melania-trump-vegetable-garden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: US-JAPAN-TRUMP-ABE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Melania Trump Plans to Preserve Michelle Obama's Vegetable Garden twitter:description: Michelle Obama had hoped the garden would be maintained by future administrations twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a51d747736bbe5e/6988b9cc656a3f1c27bcebd1/melania-trump-vegetable-garden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Melania Trump Plans to Preserve Michelle Obama's Vegetable Garden > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Feb 11, 2017 9:32 PM UTC  First Lady Melania Trump (R) and Akie Abe, wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, tour Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, Florida, on Feb. 11, 2017. First Lady Melania Trump (R) and Akie Abe, wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, tour Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, Florida, on Feb. 11, 2017. Gaston de Cardenas—AFP/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Feb 11, 2017 9:32 PM UTC First Lady [Melania Trump](http://time.com/4663457/melania-trump-daily-mail-law-suit-flotus/?iid=sr-link1) said she plans to maintain former [First Lady Michelle Obama’s](http://time.com/4626173/michelle-obama-hope-final-first-lady-remarks/) famous [White House vegetable garden](http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1929822%5F1967039,00.html). “As a mother and as the First Lady of this country, Mrs. Trump is committed to the preservation and continuation of the White House Gardens, specifically the First Lady’s Kitchen Garden and the Rose Garden,” Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, senior adviser to the first lady, [said in a statement to CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/11/politics/melania-trump-akie-abe-garden-tour-florida/index.html). Trump spent Saturday morning in another garden, touring the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, Florida, with Akie Abe, wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “Both our countries histories and cultures are steeped in the nurture and nature of gardening,” Trump said in a statement, [according to CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/11/politics/melania-trump-akie-abe-garden-tour-florida/index.html). “Having knowledge of different cultures and customs is a wonderful way to learn and to explore. Gardening teaches us the fundamentals in care and the evolution of living things, all while inspiring us to nurture our minds and to relax and strengthen our bodies.” Obama championed nutrition and local food during her tenure as First Lady. “I take great pride in knowing that this little garden will live on as a symbol of the hopes and dreams we all hold of growing a healthier nation for our children,” she said at a dedication for the garden last year, [according to Politico](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/michelle-obama-garden-changes-white-house-229204). “I am hopeful that future first families will cherish this garden like we have,” she added. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4668035/melania-trump-michelle-obama-vegetable-garden/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4668035/melania-trump-michelle-obama-vegetable-garden/"},"headline":"Melania Trump Plans to Preserve Michelle Obama's Vegetable Garden","datePublished":"2017-02-11T21:32:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:16:21.598Z","description":"Michelle Obama had hoped the garden would be maintained by future administrations","url":"https://time.com/4668035/melania-trump-michelle-obama-vegetable-garden/","keywords":["White House","flotus","Melania Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a51d747736bbe5e/6988b9cc656a3f1c27bcebd1/melania-trump-vegetable-garden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a51d747736bbe5e/6988b9cc656a3f1c27bcebd1/melania-trump-vegetable-garden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-JAPAN-TRUMP-ABE","caption":"US-JAPAN-TRUMP-ABE","creditText":"Gaston de Cardenas—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4668035/melania-trump-michelle-obama-vegetable-garden/","name":"Melania Trump Plans to Preserve Michelle Obama's Vegetable Garden"}}]}] ```