More than 53,000 people have signed an online campaign imploring First Lady Jill Biden to undo the controversial changes made by Melania Trump to the White House Rose Garden.
The petition on Change.org was started in March but has gained significant traction in the past week. It is aiming for 75,000 signatures.
Titled Restore Jackie Kennedy's Rose Garden, the petition features “now” and “then” pictures of the garden, highlighting how Trump stripped it of much of its colour and character.
A before and after showing former president Barack Obama taking a stroll through the White House Rose Garden in 2009 and then the garden today (Photos: White House):
Brightly coloured flowers in vibrant yellows and reds were substituted with pale-hued roses, while a seating area on the east side of the garden was replaced with a sculpture. She also had many of the trees removed in the first major overhaul of the garden since the Kennedy era.
The timing of the renovation, in the midst of a global pandemic and subsequent economic crisis, also drew criticism.
The Change.org petition is scathing in its summation of Trump’s renovation efforts – and the sentiments have clearly struck a chord. “In 2019, Melania Trump had the cherry trees, a gift from Japan, removed as well as the rest of the foliage and replaced with a boring tribute to herself.
Slide to see the garden in 2015, left, and today, right (Photos: AFP and The White House):
Jackie's legacy was ripped away from Americans who remembered all that the Kennedys meant to us. We want Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff to take this on and restore the Rose Garden to Jackie's original design.”
The famous garden is just outside the Oval Office, and is often home to press conferences and events. It dates back to 1913, and had its last full redesign in 1962. That reworking was overseen by then first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
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Flowers are in full bloom in the White House Rose Garden, Washington, DC, on April 27, 1963. Getty Images -
General George Patton and President Harry Truman walking together at White House Rose Garden in Washington, District of Columbia, 1945. Getty Images -
View of American politicians, Vice President Lyndon B Johnson (1908 - 1973) and President John F Kennedy (1917 - 1963), as they meet with the press in the White House Rose Garden, Washington DC, March 6, 1961. Getty Images -
Lady Bird Johnson is shown in the White House rose garden with her grandson Patrick Lyndon Nugent, Lynda Bird Robb and an Easter Bunny. 10th April 1968. Getty Images -
After taking their vows, Edward Finch Cox and Tricia Nixon Cox walk through rows of flowers past their guests en route to the White House for the reception, following their wedding in the White House rose garden. The bride is the daughter of president Richard Nixon. -
President Reagan in a meeting with reporters in the Rose Garden of the White House, says he is 'prepared to go the extra mile' in reaching an acceptable compromise with Congress on the 1983 budget. Getty Images -
In 1983, President Ronald Reagan feeds some White House squirrels (not shown) with acorns collected for Camp David. The photo was taken outside the Oval Office adjacent to the Rose Garden. Getty Images -
Russian President Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin (1931 - 2007), left, stands next to US President George HW Bush (1924 - 2018) at the White House's Rose Garden, Washington, DC, June 16, 1992. Getty Images -
U.S. President George Bush gestures toward reporters during an outdoor press conference in the White House Rose Garden 10 April, 1992. Standing next to a magnolia tree in full bloom, President Bush said he has ordered his campaign workers to "stay out of the sleaze business". AFP -
US President George Bush gives French oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau a tour of the White House Rose Garden, 24 April 1992. AFP -
President Clinton and visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto walk through the Rose Garden on their way to lunch April 11 1995 at the White House. -
President Clinton Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat leave the Rose Garden of the White House October 15 1999. Reuters -
US President Bill Clinton and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud walk through the Rose Garden 24 September 1998 at the White House in Washington, DC. AFP -
US President Bill Clinton, using his crutch as a pointer, shows Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto various flowers and trees during a tour of the Rose Garden at the White House 25 April. AFP -
President George W. Bush makes a statement from the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008. Bush said the election of Barack Obama as president of the U.S. is a 'dream fulfilled' for the civil rights movement and a victory for all Americans. Getty Images -
President Barack Obama speaks about rising gas prices and oil company tax breaks during a statement in the Rose Garden at the White House on March 29, 2012 in Washington, DC. Getty Images -
President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and daughters Malia and Sasha pose for a family portrait with their pets Bo and Sunny in the Rose Garden of the White House on Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015 in Washington, DC. Getty Images
“In 1961 President and Mrs. Kennedy had just returned from a state visit to France, followed by stops in England and Austria,” explains the petition. “The President had noted that the White House had no garden equal in quality or attractiveness to the gardens that he had seen and in which he had been entertained in Europe. There he had recognised the importance of gardens surrounding an official residence and their appeal to the sensibilities of all people.
“To honour Jacqueline Kennedy's contributions to the White House and its grounds, her immediate successor, First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, renamed the East Garden as the ‘Jacqueline Kennedy Garden’ during a ceremony on 22 April 1965.”
Trump responded to widespread criticism of her garden with a tweet that read: "I encourage everyone who chooses to be negative and question my work at the White House to take time and contribute something good and productive in their own communities. #BeBest”.
Jill Biden hasn’t yet commented on whether she’ll be overhauling the Rose Garden herself.
