Melania Trump makes rare appearance with husband Donald at White House Easter Egg Roll alongside MAGA favorites Don Jr., girlfriend Bettina

First lady Melania Trump made a rare appearance in Washington, standing alongside President Donald Trump at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. 

The first lady was dressed in pale yellow and stood next to the president and the Easter Bunny on the Truman Balcony, before taking in some of the yard games.

Trump applauded the first lady for planning the affair, which was expected to draw more than 40,000 people to the White House’s South Lawn. 

‘And I just want to give a special thank you to our great first lady who organized this entire event,’ the president said. ‘She worked very, very hard on it. She worked very hard.’

He continued: ‘I said, “What are you doing?” She said, “I’m working on the egg roll.” I said, “That sounds like a lot of fun,” And we’re going to have a lot of fun in just a couple of minutes.’ 

Trump also thanked the National Park Service for ‘the job they do and making everything so beautiful and spiffy.’

The president said he was putting the flags at half-staff to pay homage to the late Pope Francis, who died earlier Monday. 

‘He was a good man, he worked hard and loved the world,’ Trump said. 

Trump also boasted that religion was back in the United States. 

‘And we’re going to honor Jesus Christ very powerfully,’ he told the crowd. 

‘Happy Easter and enjoy your lives!’ the president concluded from the balcony. 

He and the first lady then headed to the South Lawn to watch the games, with Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend Bettina Anderson, joining them. 

‘Are you ready? One two three!’ Trump said blowing a whistle to kick off the egg race. 

As Trump took in the games, he answered questions from the press. 

The president wasn’t sure yet if he would fly to Rome for the Pope’s funeral. 

‘I don’t know yet. We’re going to be briefed on it right now,’ Trump answered. 

When asked if he would like to go, he replied, ‘I don’t know, I just have to look at the timing. We just lowered the flags throughout the country.’ 

A reporter pointed out to the president that Pope Francis had preached tolerance for migrants and was asked if he agreed.  

‘Yeah, I do, I do,’ Trump answered. 

Trump also expressed confidence in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth amid another Signal scandal.  

‘Here we go again. Just a waste of time. He is doing a great job,’ Trump said. 

When asked why he had confidence in Hegseth, Trump answered, ‘Because he’s doing a great job.’ 

‘Ask the Houthis how he’s doing,’ Trump said. 

All morning members of his administration and other MAGA favorites milled about. 

National Security Advisor Michael Waltz was spotted, as was FBI Director Kash Patel, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Stephen Miller with his wife Katie, who is a spokesperson for DOGE, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, press secretary Karoline Leavitt, with her husband and young son.

Elon Musk was spotted talking to visitors on the South Lawn. 

The American Egg Board donated the 30,000 eggs to be used in the roll. 

Emily Metz, the board president and CEO, said in an interview with the Associated Press that the eggs given to the White House were small and medium sizes not typically sold in stores – so will not put futher strain on the egg supply or contribute to even higher egg prices. 

‘We feel like we need to take a moment to celebrate where we can, and you cannot have Easter without eggs and you cannot have the White House Easter Egg Roll without real eggs,’ Metz said. 

The White House got corporate sponsors for portions of the Egg Roll this year, which included tech giants including Amazon and Meta.