Donald Trump

Trumps Hold Their 1st Easter Egg Roll at White House, Where More Than 21,000 Were Expected

First lady Melania Trump tweeted over the weekend that she's looking forward to hosting the annual event

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump welcomed thousands of Easter revelers to the White House Easter Egg Roll Monday, the building's biggest social event of the year.

There had been some hand-wringing over whether Trump and his wife would be able to pull off a successful "egg-stravaganza." Both the president and first lady have been slow to fill White House staff jobs.

But a downsized version of the 139-year-old event kicked off early Monday on the South Lawn, where thousands of children gathered to hear them speak.

"As we renew this tradition, thank you for joining us on behalf of the president and Barron, we wish you great fun and beautiful days coming ahead of us," Melania Trump said, flanked by her husband, son and the Easter bunny. "And happy Easter."

The president introduced her, saying "We will be stronger and bigger and better as a nation than ever before."

The White House was expecting more than 21,000 children and adults to attend the festivities. That's down from the 35,000 people who attended last year.

"This is my first year doing the egg roll, and it's been a really good experience and I would encourage my friends to get their parents to try and get in the lottery to do it," said Easter Egg Roll attendee Abby Shygelski.

The Martin Family Circus, a six-person family band from Nashville, is set to perform at the event, according to Politico.

The first lady tweeted over the weekend that she's looking forward to hosting the Easter Egg Roll. The event was first held in 1878.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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