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.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
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.
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
