The White House Rose Garden is almost back in business following a summer of renovations, and press secretary Karoline Leavitt offered reporters a close-up look at the new patio before the official reopening ceremony.
On Tuesday, Aug. 19, Leavitt took the White House press pool on a field trip to see the Rose Garden while President Donald Trump was playing his own music selection over the loudspeakers — something he’s been known to do at Mar-a-Lago events.
While songs like “A Whiter Shade of Pale” by Procol Harum and Elvis Presley’s “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” played, Leavitt answered reporters’ questions about the most significant updates to the Rose Garden since the Kennedy administration — including why it looks so much like the president’s West Palm Beach club, and whether first lady Melania Trump is satisfied with the final product.
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The new White House Rose Garden patio, which covers the former Kennedy-era lawn
One of the first questions revolved around the patio’s viral yellow-and-white-striped umbrellas, which look identical to the umbrellas at Mar-a-Lago and have been lampooned in countless social media posts for resembling a smattering of chain restaurant patios.
“What was the thinking behind the choice of the yellow umbrellas?” a reporter asked. “A lot of people say they look similar to that of Mar-a-Lago.”
Leavitt, 27, responded, “Yeah, I mean, they are literally the umbrellas from Mar-a-Lago,” before clarifying that they were purchased from the same vendor, and were not actually brought up from Trump’s Florida property to be reused at the White House.
Tasos Katopodis/Getty; Scott Olson/Getty
The umbrellas in the White House Rose Garden (left) are the same type used at Mar-a-Lago (right)
A reporter then asked the White House press secretary whether Melania — who notably oversaw the redesign of the rose bushes in 2020 — is “cool with the overall patio,” to which Leavitt said, “She is. I believe so, yeah.”
She also said that the president “loves it, clearly,” seeming to nod at Donald’s music playing in the background, which was reportedly his way of testing the speakers in preparation for “the best event in White House history.”
When asked whether the space is still officially called the White House Rose Garden, Leavitt said, “Yeah. The roses are still here.”
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The Kennedy-era Rose Garden, pictured in 2014, before the Trumps’ renovations in 2020 and 2025
The White House Rose Garden has undergone several changes since it was conceived at the start of the 20th century, though few changes were made in the decades after John F. Kennedy’s major redesign in the ’60s, which moved the flowers to the outer edges of the space and added a central lawn that could host high-profile events.
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Melania faced criticism at the end of her husband’s first term for removing the Kennedys’ crabapple trees and narrowing the lawn to add a limestone walkway around the border. She also added more rose bushes, which remain untouched today.
At the start of the summer, the Trumps announced a major construction project to remove President Kennedy’s central lawn and replace it with cement pavers, transforming the green space into a patio.
Construction is now complete, and the White House is expected to host a reopening ceremony of sorts in the near future.
PEOPLE reached out to the first lady’s office for comment about whether she is satisfied with the final product.
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