Melania Trump Boasts About Tearing Down Jackie Kennedy's Iconic Rose Garden in Her New Memoir

The world-famous Rose Garden at the White House was designed in 1962 for President John F. Kennedy by philanthropist and landscape designer Rachel "Bunny" Lambert Mellon on instructions from First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. In 2020, former First Lady Melania Trump courted criticism and outrage by extensively remodeling the garden, she is currently using a video to promote her new book - Melania, and boasting about taking it down. According to The Daily Beast, Melania posted a short renovation clip on X stating she felt a 'deep responsibility to safeguard a piece of history'. 

“When the committee for the preservation of the White House asked me to renovate the Rose Garden I felt a deep responsibility to “respect tradition and to preserve its grandeur for future generations,” she said in the video. “In my book, I share the story of this journey, how my team and I worked to safeguard this piece of our history.”

Historian and author Michael Beschloss condemned the results of her renovation work back in 2020 with a tweet stating: “Evisceration of White House Rose Garden was completed a year ago this month, and here was the grim result—decades of American history made to disappear.” 

During the restoration, Melania removed all of the vibrant roses, blossoming trees, and tulips that had been used for decades as a backdrop for presidential press conferences and announcements. As per Raw Story, the iconic side beds were transformed from rose beds to box hedges with zigzag trimmings and rounder curves. White flowers were now replaced in between the hedges.

According to Vanity Fair, President Kennedy received comprehensive renderings and watercolor sketches of landscape designer Mellon's Rose Garden proposal on January 24, 1962. The lawn would be framed with borders of flowers and trees, and magnolia trees would anchor the corners. Crab apple trees would be planted in diamond-shaped beds on two sides of the garden, bordered by boxwood roses and perennials.

He accepted the plan but asked for one modification. The president intended to change the steps leading from the White House down to the lawn to improve sight lines because he intended to address sizable crowds while cameras were filming the event. “‘They’re too low and they’re not adequate,’” the designer recalled. “‘When I’m giving someone an honor, I want them to be one step above me and I want a platform.’” While the National Park Service would pay for the project, the president requested Mellon to finish the garden in four months and minimize expenditures. On March 19, 1962, he authorized the projected $23,458 cost, and work got underway. 

After its unveiling on April 24, 1962, the garden was quickly used for formal events. According to Mellon's recollection, Jackie was overjoyed with the Rose Garden's splendor and emphasized that her husband had spent his fondest moments in the White House there. She wrote, “He will always be remembered,” for making such a beautiful place.