Grievances were aired.
Photo: Shawn Thew/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Hosting the Congressional Ball seems like it should be one of the easiest tasks on the Trumps’ agenda. The annual party is a bipartisan event where members of the House of Representatives and Senate gather to celebrate the holidays at the White House. All the president and First Lady have to do is show up in something festive, issue some generic holiday well-wishes, and smile.
Yet Donald and Melania Trump found a way to make things awkward.
Melania’s approach to the holidays has always been weirdly spooky, and her attire on Thursday night kept with her inexplicably goth Christmas aesthetic. She wore a black velvet blazer and pants by Dolce & Gabbana over a sheer, high-necked black lace blouse.
We all know Melania may or may not give a fuck about Christmas, so there’s really no reason to draw attention to her odd vision for the holiday. But the president chose to compliment his wife’s efforts this year by reminiscing about her previous holiday decorating debacles.
“I would say this is the best. Although, I liked the red trees,” he said. “She got criticized for the red trees. Then I liked the white trees and she was criticized for the white trees. Then I liked the green trees and she got criticized and she went back to green, and they love it.”
Donald tested Melania’s ability to remain expressionless again a few minutes later, when he breezily recalled how distraught House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s wife was when he was shot and nearly killed in 2017. He noted that some wives — like maybe the woman standing next to him? — might have had a different reaction.
“I found out that night you have a wife who loves you dearly,” Trump said. “I know many wives who would not even be crying.”
In her own brief remarks, Melania thanked lawmakers for supporting the Take It Down Act, which she proudly called “our greatest triumph in my office, in the First Lady’s office, in 2025.”
She concluded by teasing that she has another legislative project planned for the New Year.
“I hope you will be excited to support my new legislative initiative in 2026,” she said. “Some of you already know about it because it’s already in the works.”
Then Donald Trump took the mic again and quipped that he has no idea what the First Lady is talking about.
“Well, I just heard about that for the first time,” he said, drawing laughter from the crowd.
“The only thing I can tell you — I know one thing for sure, Mr. Speaker — it’s going to be great for children,” he added. “I don’t know what it is she’s doing, but it’s going to be great for children.”
So clothing and décor choices aside, the person making things weird on Thursday night was really Donald, not Melania. But don’t feel too bad for our First Lady. She (or someone on her social-media team) got the president back by posting this video. Initially, it looks like Melania is helping her decrepit husband as he slowly struggles to get down the stairs.
Other videos show that Trump had no difficulty descending the stairs. The clip posted by the First Lady’s office looks off because the video is in slow-motion but the audio is normal speed. Maybe Melania’s team was just trying to be artsy, but it’s an odd thing to post when people are chattering about the president’s mysterious health issues and a (fake) photo of Trump using a walker is going viral.
Either way, hopefully the Trumps can work out their issues and Be Best this Chrismas (whatever that means).
