President Trump's party planning team appears to have dropped the ball on the administration's first big event, the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. While the event is still on for Monday, The New York Times reported Tuesday that it will be far smaller and less extravagant than it's been in years past.
The White House was so late on announcing the roll that it nearly missed the manufacturing deadline for the commemorative eggs, prompting the company that supplies the eggs to send a reminder to Trump and the first lady via Twitter:
While in the past celebrities like Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande have performed at the Egg Roll, this year the only entertainment will likely be military bands. Instead of a brigade of Sesame Street characters, a lone cast member will make an appearance.
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Though Trump communications director Stephanie Grisham insisted it was "just not accurate" to suggest the event would be smaller in scale than years past, the numbers suggest otherwise. The White House ordered just 40,000 commemorative eggs for the event — less than half the number the Obama administration ordered in 2016. An estimated 20,000 people will attend Trump's event, a far cry from the crowd of 37,000 at last year's Egg Roll.
Amid all the uncertainties surrounding the upcoming Easter event, perhaps the most important question is whether White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer will reprise his role as the Easter Bunny. When former President George W. Bush was in office, Spicer appeared at the Egg Roll in a bunny suit.
Read more on the Easter Egg Roll's 2017 struggles at The New York Times.
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