Updated 2 May 2021 at 14:33 IST
'Restore Rose Garden': Petition urges Jill Biden to undo Melania's White House makeover
US First Lady Jill Biden is now being urged to restore the presidential residence’s garden to a state that predates ex-First Lady Melania Trump’s 2019 makeover.
In the latest effort to erase the former White House administration of the Trump family, First Lady Jill Biden is now being urged to restore the presidential residence’s garden to a state that predates ex-First Lady Melania Trump’s 2019 makeover. An online petition has also been started by Liz Tapanes urging Jill Biden to return the Rose gardens to its “former glory”. The petition on change.org, which says Biden’s predecessor “had the cherry trees, a gift from Japan, removed as well as the rest of the foliage and replaced with a boring tribute to herself”, has already received over 65,900 signatories.
As per the Guardian report, the restorationists urged that the garden should be returned to a state that was originally created in the early 1960s by Jacqueline Kennedy with the help of famed designer Bunny Mellon. The online petition says, “Jackie’s legacy was ripped away from Americans who remembered all that the Kennedys meant to us...the White House had no garden equal in quality or attractiveness to the gardens that he had seen and in which he had been entertained in Europe.”
“We want Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff to take this on and restore the Rose Garden to Jackie's original design,” the petition reads.
Several internet users took to social media showcasing support to the online petition and said they would "definitely" want the rose gardens in White House "restored" and called them "national treasures."
Melania Trump announced the renovation project in July 2020
In July 2020, Jill Biden’s predecessor Melania Trump announced the renovation project as her husband readied for his re-election bid amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The former US First Lady directed developments of including electrical upgrades for television appearances, a brand new walkway along with new flowers and shrubs calling them an “act of expressing hope and optimism for the future”.
Trump-induced changes were also the first since Michelle Obama initiated a project in 2009 to dig up a 1,100 square foot plot on the South lawn adjacent to the tennis courts for a vegetable garden. Obama’s plan included the replacement of crab apple trees with a new assortment of white “JFK” and pale pink “peace” roses along with a new drainage system.
Image credits: AP/change.org
Published By : Aanchal Nigam
Published On: 2 May 2021 at 14:33 IST