President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump hosted thousands of children from across the United States for the 147th White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday. If you have access to pictures and videos from the day, you will see that a great time was had by all. It was a nice break from politics. (Heck, I'm happy to just see something else in the news that doesn't involve Chris Van Hollen's 15 minutes of fame.)
The president and first lady were all smiles, holding hands at times, and spending time coloring, reading, and playing games with the children in attendance.
But that's not the type of reporting that you'll see in much of the mainstream media. Let's take a deeper dive.
The two biggest pearl-clutching headlines to come out of today's event are something like "Ohmygosh, They Used Real Eggs" and "Ohmygosh, They Used Corporate Sponsors."
Some of them will even feature the worst possible photos of the first lady — I just saw one from CBS that shows her with her eyes closed and a frown on her face when I know for a fact that there are hundreds, if not thousands of her smiling and having a good time with her husband and all the children. We're a much smaller operation than CBS here at PJ Media — for now anyway — but it took me all of five minutes to find and get permission to use one of those photos for this article. However, that doesn't fit the "first lady is cold and doesn't want to be first lady" narrative they have running.
Apparently, the idea of corporations sponsoring the various events at the Egg Roll is an "ethics concern" because some say it might look as if Trump is showing favoritism to certain companies and is a "a break from tradition about not corporatizing the White House and its grounds." However, any company could pay $75,000, $125,000 or $200,000 to become a sponsor.
"Sponsors of (the White House Easter Egg Roll) provide financial support, activities, and giveaways to enhance the event while gaining valuable brand visibility and national recognition. Their contributions allow the event to be privately funded without taxpayer money, creating a memorable experience for children and families," according to the sponsorship guide for the event, which was created by the production company Harbinger.
And, according to USA Today, "All money raised by Harbinger from the White House Easter Egg Roll sponsorships will go to the nonprofit White House Historical Association, which hired the production firm."
To be quite honest, I'm more concerned with the ethics related to how our tax dollars are spent on things like this. At least the corporations got to volunteer. While I think it's a cute event and good for the country's morale (when reported on properly), if someone came to me and said, "I'm going to make you pay for an Easter event for kids you don't know," I'd opt out.
So companies like Amazon, YouTube, and Meta sponsored this stuff instead of taxpayers. Big deal. It seems like the left is all about "making billionaires pay their fair share." Isn't this just kind of a way of doing that? Plus, I think what the Joe Biden administration was doing with Meta was far more unethical, but I digress.
As for the use of real eggs, I get that everyone is in a tizzy over egg prices and availability, but it's not like the Trumps sent their staff out to the grocery store to buy up 30,000 so regular folks couldn't. They were donated by egg farmers from across the country. Heck, someone should have told me — I have a small hobby farm and more eggs than I know what to do with at the moment. I could have put a little dent in that 30,000.
And well, it's tradition. Back in March, I wrote about the history of the annual egg roll and how it was formed and shaped over the years. The stench of rotten eggs after a few days is one reason why many first families decided to make it more of an organized affair compared to the "free-form games" of the past.
Recommended: One of the White House's Oldest Traditions
Politico points out that "Industry trade groups — including egg farmers and candy makers — are also listed as event partners, and some have supported the event for decades." (So lobbyists can support the event but not corporations?)
Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board, said, "America’s egg farmers are immensely proud to be part of this treasured tradition every year. As a legacy partner of the White House Easter Egg Roll, we are honored that real eggs are a key element in this iconic national celebration."
Also, this so-called egg crisis that we're in the midst of was happening last year, too, but guess what? The Bidens had more than twice as many real eggs donated to their egg roll in 2024. Did the media cover it in the same way? I'll let you be the judge. Here's an example from NPR:
The president and first lady joined children as they hunted for and rolled eggs. All told, the event's hunting, decorating and rolling – and snacking – required more than 64,000 eggs, which farmers in Pennsylvania and North Carolina donated, according to the American Egg Board. Braswell Family Farms of North Carolina boiled and dyed more than 6,000 eggs each day for eight days, and worked with the White House to curate special shades of orange, purple, pink and a 'Biden blue.'
And here's how NPR covered Trump's use of real eggs (after droning on about the corporate sponsors, of course):
The event, which the White House said will use eggs 'donated by American egg farmers,' also comes as egg prices in the United States have reached record highs due to an outbreak of avian flu that has forced farmers to kill off millions of egg-laying hens.
(It's unethical that our tax dollars are funding NPR, as well.)
I'll leave you with a real look at the day's events. The media coverage wasn't the only difference between Trump and Biden:
BREAKING: The White House is no longer a nursing home 🎉 #WHEasterEggRoll pic.twitter.com/iZdjPyWsyo
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 21, 2025
It all began with a special message.
.@POTUS: "We're honoring Jesus Christ and we're going to honor Jesus Christ very powerfully throughout our lives ... not just now, all throughout our lives." 🙏 pic.twitter.com/aS6QIDBY5G
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 21, 2025
Trump thanked his wife for planning the event.
.@POTUS recognizes our wonderful @FLOTUS for her hard work putting together the White House Easter Egg Roll ❤️ 🥚 🐤 🐰 pic.twitter.com/MfwbyGH2uq
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 21, 2025
He also took some time to call out the aforementioned fake news.
.@POTUS: “You know what that is? That’s the Fake News… They have good days and they have bad days.” 🤣 pic.twitter.com/P5PNdpJbic
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 21, 2025
Mrs. Trump read a story to the children in attendance.
First Lady Melania Trump Reads to Children at the 2025 White House Easter Egg Roll https://t.co/mpY2k7Ap0l
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 21, 2025
Let the games begin!
.@POTUS and @FLOTUS signal the start of the 2025 White House Easter Egg Roll pic.twitter.com/nBFWeY36zY
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 21, 2025
And last but not least, my favorite video — the president loves coloring. (And what a cool story that little boy in the blue — not "Biden blue" — shirt will have to tell one day.)
President @realDonaldTrump coloring with the kids at the White House Easter Egg Roll!
— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) April 21, 2025
“I’m really into this!” pic.twitter.com/VKOK0h2Jcm
