President Donald Trump welcomed tens of thousands of people Monday to the White House Easter egg roll, saying the overcast weather meant no one would have to worry about getting sunburned. He thanked the National Park Service for how “spiffy” everything looked.
Trump White House Easter Egg Roll First lady Melania Trump talks with children as they play a game of hopscotch during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
Trump White House Easter Egg Roll President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Trump White House Easter Egg Roll Donald Trump Jr., and his girlfriend Bettina Anderson arrive for the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Trump White House Easter Egg Roll President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive for the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Trump White House Easter Egg Roll Donald Trump Jr., and his girlfriend Bettina Anderson arrive for the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Trump White House Easter Egg Roll President Donald Trump greets people during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Trump White House Easter Egg Roll President Donald Trump greets people during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Trump White House Easter Egg Roll President Donald Trump sits with children as he participates in the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
Trump White House Easter Egg Roll President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, stand with the Easter bunny as they participate in the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
Trump White House Easter Egg Roll Guests arrive on the South Lawn of the White House before President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump participate in the White House Easter Egg Roll Monday, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Trump White House Easter Egg Roll First lady Melania Trump talks with children as they play a game of hopscotch during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
Trump White House Easter Egg Roll First lady Melania Trump reads a book to children during the White House Easter Egg Roll at the White House, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
Trump White House Easter Egg Roll President Donald Trump watches as first lady Melania Trump waves from the Blue Room Balcony during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
APTOPIX Trump White House Easter Egg Roll President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump blow whistles during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
APTOPIX Trump White House Easter Egg Roll President Donald Trump stands with the Easter bunny as he participates in the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
Trump White House Easter Egg Roll Guests arrive on the South Lawn of the White House before President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump participate in the White House Easter Egg Roll Monday, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Trump White House Easter Egg Roll Guests arrive on the South Lawn of the White House before President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump participate in the White House Easter Egg Roll Monday, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Trump White House Easter Egg Roll Guests arrive on the South Lawn of the White House before President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump participate in the White House Easter Egg Roll Monday, April 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump welcomed tens of thousands of people Monday to the White House Easter egg roll, saying the overcast weather meant no one would have to worry about getting sunburned. He thanked the National Park Service for how “spiffy” everything looked.
More than 40,000 people were expected to participate, he said.
“Happy Easter to everyone,” the president said, flanked on the White House balcony by his wife, first lady Melania Trump, and an Easter bunny mascot. “It was a beautiful day yesterday, and it’s a beautiful day today. We don’t have to worry about sunburn but … it looks like it’s not going to be raining.”
The president and first lady visited the egg roll area, where he blew a gold-toned whistle stamped with the presidential seal to start a few races. They also spent time at a station where kids wrote cards to service members. Melania Trump later read “Bunny with a Big Heart” at a reading area. It’s a story about a forgetful rabbit who gets injured, must stay in bed and learns to be kinder to his family.
Wooden spoon-wielding children competed against each other to guide hard-boiled eggs dyed pink, blue, yellow or green across a patch of the lawn to a finish line. In some cases, eggs were lobbed into the air instead of rolled across the grass, and at least one wooden spoon went flying through the air.
The participants included some of Trump’s grandchildren — son Don Jr.’s children.
A special station promoting next year’s 250th anniversary of America’s founding provided opportunities to sign a mini-Declaration of Independence or dress up as Founding Fathers. The daylong event featured multiple activity stations, live performances and story times.
Trump gave a “special thank you” to his wife for her work organizing the annual event.
“I also want to thank the National Park Service,” he said. “The job they do in making everything so beautiful and spiffy, and I’m very difficult when it comes to that. I will tell you, very very difficult. … They have done an incredible job. You just have to look around and see”
The American Egg Board, which has participated in the Easter egg roll for nearly 50 years and has been a lead sponsor for the past decade, donated 30,000 eggs that were hand-dyed by board staff and volunteers, said Emily Metz, board president and CEO.
She said the board understands the frustration felt by egg farmers and consumers over the egg shortage caused by the spread of avian flu and how expensive it’s become to buy a dozen.
Metz said the 2,500 dozen eggs given to the White House were small and medium, sizes not typically sold by retailers, so they will not further strain the supply or contribute to even higher prices. Nearly 9 million dozen eggs are sold daily in the United States, she said.
“We feel like we need to take a moment to celebrate where we can, and you cannot have Easter without eggs. And you cannot have the White House Easter egg roll without real eggs,” Metz said in an interview.
Trump also included topics unrelated to Easter in his brief remarks, like recruitment gains for the military and police and fire departments. He said religion “is coming back to America.”
The egg roll is one of the oldest White House traditions, dating to to 1878 and the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes. He opened the lawn to children after Congress banned them from rolling eggs on the grounds of the Capitol.
Tickets for Monday’s event were distributed through a lottery.
In this photograph taken by Francis Benjamin Johnston in 1898, a boy and a girl hold hands during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. Dating back to 1878, the Easter Egg Roll is a cherished springtime tradition in Washington, D.C., with children and their families gathering to enjoy festivities on the South Lawn. Francis Benjamin Johnston was one of the first influential female photographers in America, and became well known for her intimate photographs of the Roosevelt family, White House, and Washington society.
(Library of Congress)
Library of Congress
This is a photograph taken by Frances Benjamin Johnston showing the crowds gathered on the South Lawn for the White House Easter Egg Roll. Dating back to 1878, the Easter Egg Roll is a cherished springtime tradition in Washington, D.C., with children and their families gathering to enjoy festivities on the South Lawn. Francis Benjamin Johnston was one of the first influential female photographers in America, and she is well known for her intimate photographs of the Roosevelt family, White House, and Washington society.
(Library of Congress)
Library of Congress
Wooden Easter eggs with President Bush and Laura Bush’s signature are given, Monday, April 21, 2003, to those who take part in the annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House. President Bush and wife Laura return later from a Easter weekend stay at the Crawford, Texas, ranch.
(AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
AP Photo/Ron Edmonds
President Joe Biden accompanied by first lady Jill Biden, left, welcomes entertainer and The Tonight Show Host Jimmy Fallon to the stage to read his book “Nana” during the White House Easter Egg Roll at the White House, Monday, April 18, 2022, in Washington.
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
President Barack Obama watches children participate in the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of White House in Washington, Monday, April 6, 2015. Thousands of children gathered at the White House for the annual Easter Egg Roll. This year’s event features live music, cooking stations, storytelling, and of course, some Easter egg roll.
(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
President Donald Trump, joined by the Easter Bunny, sings the national anthem with a member of the “The President’s Own,” United States Marine Band, from the Truman Balcony of the White House in Washington, Monday, April 22, 2019, during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Vice President and Mrs. Barbara Bush, standing left, watch as a young child starts the annual White House Easter Egg roll, Monday, April 20, 1987 in Washington on the South Lawn of the White House. Some 37,000 people attended the 109th Easter Egg roll.
(AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
AP Photo/Ron Edmonds
President Barack Obama listens as his daughters Sasha, center, and Malia, right, read “A Sick Day for Amos McGee,” during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, Monday, April 9, 2012, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington.
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
Children participate in the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, April, 1, 2013.
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden participate in the 2023 White House Easter Egg Roll, Monday, April 10, 2023, in Washington.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
