WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump’s revamped and paved-over White House Rose Garden is starting to look a lot like Mar-a-Lago.
New yellow and white-striped umbrellas were recently installed on about a dozen deck-style tables on the stone patio that replaced the Rose Garden’s iconic grass lawn in late July.
The umbrellas appear nearly identical to yellow umbrellas on the swimming pool patio at Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private South Florida club and personal residence that served as the inspiration for his controversial overhaul of the Rose Garden that is situated just outside the Oval Office.
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The rose bushes and other vegetation remain on the garden’s periphery following the garden’s renovation.
It is unclear whether the White House intends to keep the umbrellas at the Rose Garden permanently or bring them out only for special occasions. Trump has yet to host a public event on the new patio, which features drainage to collect water and the White House emblem along its perimeter.
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Trump told reporters on Aug. 3 he’s heard “great reviews” about the renovated Rose Garden, arguing that “we had to do it” because the grass often turned wet and muddy after rainfall, making it difficult to host events.
The Rose Garden ‒ perhaps the most famous garden in the United States ‒ has showcased the prestige of the American presidency for decades. Presidents have turned to the garden for peace treaty signings between other nations, presidential press conferences, meetings with foreign heads of state, landmark bill signings and swearing-in ceremonies of Supreme Court justices.
The modern Rose Garden was created in 1961 under President John F. Kennedy when he and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy tapped architect Rachel Lambert “Bunny” Mellon to lead an overhaul.
But flower gardens on the west side of the White House’s South Lawn date back decades earlier to the mid-1800s presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. The space later became known as a “colonial garden” following 1902 renovations led by first lady Edith Roosevelt, wife of President Theodore Roosevelt.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rose Garden starts looking like Mar-a-Lago with newest feature
