--- title: Melania Trump's Red Christmas Trees Become Memes description: The internet is obsessed with the red trees of Melania's 2018 White House Christmas decorations. canonical: https://time.com/5463388/melania-trump-christmas-decorations-trees-memes/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-26T17:40:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:56:10.797Z og:title: Melania's 'Blood' Red Trees Bestow the Internet With Gifts og:description: Melania + trees = foundation for a meme og:url: https://time.com/5463388/melania-trump-christmas-decorations-trees-memes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29956049880a3e61/69893fe9ab6d773e9c6b4453/white-house-red-trees.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5166 og:image:height: 2906 og:image:alt: Holiday Decorations On Display At The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Melania's 'Blood' Red Trees Bestow the Internet With Gifts twitter:description: Melania + trees = foundation for a meme twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29956049880a3e61/69893fe9ab6d773e9c6b4453/white-house-red-trees.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Melania Trump's 'Blood' Red White House Holiday Trees Bestow the Internet With So Many Gifts > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=2a0079b5-3172-4f5a-bb12-fc5a7950ab66&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Nov 26, 2018 5:40 PM UTC  More than 40 red topiary trees line the East colonnade as part of the holiday decorations at the White House. More than 40 red topiary trees line the East colonnade as part of the holiday decorations at the White House. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Nov 26, 2018 5:40 PM UTC First Lady Melania Trump unveiled the [2018 White House Christmas decorations](http://time.com/5454985/white-house-christmas-2018/) on Monday, and the internet is predictably all over one aspect of this year’s festive additions: those red trees. Just like last year, Christmas came [early for the internet](http://time.com/5039367/melania-trump-white-house-christmas-decorations-meme/), as people on Twitter couldn’t resist joking about the first lady’s chosen holiday decor. And in 2018, some trees stood out more than others. The 40 towering, berry red topiary-like trees lining the East Wing hallway toward the East Garden Room have captivated people online with their crimson hue. Jokes online were swift. Red trees for Christmas — decorations optional — are not uncommon during the holidays, even if they are a break with traditional green. But they are striking enough to get people talking and riffing. The White House ran with a crimson theme elsewhere, decking the Cross Hall and Grand Foyer halls with 14,000 red ornaments on 29 trees. Evidently, the red ornaments are symbolic. The red represents the stripes found on the presidential seal signifying valor and bravery, according to the White House. Some people were less interested in that explanation, as people imagined what they wanted with the visuals of the festivities. > [](https://twitter.com/MaryCat1719/status/1067082865446395905) > [](https://twitter.com/StephenARhodes/status/1067080263950311425) > [](https://twitter.com/UghObWi/status/1067073109658951681) > [](https://twitter.com/JenKirkman/status/1067061392841142272) This year, the White House Christmas decorations overseen by the first lady have an “American Treasures” theme, intended to recognize America’s “unique heritage.” Despite the red trees in the people’s house this year, the official 2018 White House Christmas tree is a more traditional green Fraser, and stands in the Blue Room draped with more than 500 feet of blue velvet ribbon embroidered in gold with each state and territory. Meanwhile, the Gold Star Family tree pays tribute to troops. And in the East Room, there are also 14-foot Noble fir trees bedecked with handmade paper ornaments. You can spot other brightly colorful trees in the Vermeil room, where there are trees sparkling with blue and gold. People had a field day with Melania Trump’s traditional Christmas walk in 2017, when she presented a picture of snowy white trees. It would seem that if you give the internet Melania walking through a tree-lined corridor, you’ve got a foundation for a very easy meme. Just days after the unveiling, the First Lady stood up for her decorations. In an interview at Liberty University Wednesday as part of a town hall on the opioid crisis, when asked about the reception of her Christmas decorations, she said: “We are in the 21st century and everybody has a different taste,” [Trump said](http://time.com/5465753/melania-trump-on-white-house-christmas-decorations/). “I think they look fantastic.” > [](https://twitter.com/WilliamBibbiani/status/1067094015902867456) > [](https://twitter.com/missbreton/status/1067075411031613440) > [](https://twitter.com/ReelDancing/status/1067084403325587456) > [](https://twitter.com/StephenARhodes/status/1067080263950311425) > [](https://twitter.com/tylerc/status/1067143785660989441) > [](https://twitter.com/LEBassett/status/1067094956517543936) > [](https://twitter.com/DGComedy/status/1067122400255336448) > [](https://twitter.com/gilbertjasono/status/1067132461618991104) > [](https://twitter.com/owillis/status/1067085358960132101) > [](https://twitter.com/justinkirkland4/status/1067094762224783360) > [](https://twitter.com/ArgusICraig/status/1067098965349408770) > [](https://twitter.com/aric/status/1067094818503962624) > [](https://twitter.com/KenLayne/status/1067242357450362880) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5463388/melania-trump-christmas-decorations-trees-memes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5463388/melania-trump-christmas-decorations-trees-memes/"},"headline":"Melania Trump's 'Blood' Red White House Holiday Trees Bestow the Internet With So Many Gifts","datePublished":"2018-11-26T17:40:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:56:10.797Z","description":"The internet is obsessed with the red trees of Melania's 2018 White House Christmas decorations.","url":"https://time.com/5463388/melania-trump-christmas-decorations-trees-memes/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","Holidays 2018"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29956049880a3e61/69893fe9ab6d773e9c6b4453/white-house-red-trees.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29956049880a3e61/69893fe9ab6d773e9c6b4453/white-house-red-trees.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Holiday Decorations On Display At The White House","caption":"Melania Trump on the Christmas decorations","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—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":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5463388/melania-trump-christmas-decorations-trees-memes/","name":"Melania Trump's 'Blood' Red White House Holiday Trees Bestow the Internet With So Many Gifts"}}]}] ```