Melania Trump vs. Jill Biden in a festive showdown! A Daily Mail poll shows which first lady’s Christmas decor REALLY brought more holiday cheer to the White House
Whether it’s Melania Trump’s blood-red trees or Jill Biden’s video that was compared to The Hunger Games, the White House Christmas decorations always spark debate.
The festive designs have been a central responsibility of first ladies for decades and are often adored or ridiculed depending on the president’s political party.
This year, DailyMail.com decided to put the issue to voters — without telling them whether a Democrat or Republican first lady supported the vision.
Scroll down for the results
Option 1: Americans were asked to rate the Christmas decorations of first ladies in a blind test: the first choice shows trees simply fitted with white lights and decorated with white and mother-of-pearl balls
Option 2: The second choice includes trees with white lights and red lights. The tree stands were decorated with tartan and plaid
Pollsters JL Partners asked a thousand Americans to choose their favorite from two sets of decorations placed at different times in the Cross Hall, a hallway on the first floor of the White House.
Opinion poll
Which set of White House Christmas decorations do you prefer?
- Option 1 3937 votes
- Option 2 4513 votes
The choice was between Melania’s designs from 2020 and Jill’s from this year, but respondents were asked to make their choice blind.
The first option shows trees simply fitted with white lights and decorated with white and pearl bulbs, with tufts of fake snow at their feet.
A large nutcracker extends from the White House State Dining Room, while Santa’s reindeer are mounted from the ceiling.
The second option that Americans were asked to assess includes trees dressed with white lights and red lamps.
The tree stands were decorated with tartana and plaid.
Another large tree can be seen across the hallway from the State Dining Room.
Both Trump and Biden have been criticized and praised in equal measure for their touches around the holidays.
But the response is often influenced by the support of party critics.
If you are asked to make the selection purely based on the decorations, the results are surprising.
Melania Trump decorated the East Colonnade with dramatic white branches in 2017, her first year serving as first lady. The photo shoot of her walking down the hallway in her bell-shaped white dress was turned into a meme and labeled as creepy
Melania Trump’s red topiary made from berries was criticized for resembling signature costume from The Handmaid’s Tale
Over the past two years, the Bidens have hung stockings at the White House for six of their seven grandchildren — but never for their seventh grandchild, Navy Joan. This year’s Christmas display had no stockings
The winner of DailyMail.com’s Decking the Halls poll was option two, designed by Melania.
54 percent of respondents said they preferred her trinkets to the items Jill came up with in option one.
Republicans, who may have been attracted to all that red, liked them the most: 57 percent of Republicans chose Trump, compared to 43 percent for Biden.
But Trump even got a narrow majority of Democrats to say she did a better job.
DailyMail.com polls showed 51 percent of Democrats liked Trump’s decor, compared to 49 percent who said Biden did.
Americans over 65 liked Biden’s best. Among that demographic, 53 percent voted for Biden and 47 percent said Trump.
Joe Alder, senior research associate at JL Partners, noted that while it was close, “the public’s verdict was clear: Melania Trump brought the finer Christmas decor to the White House.”
“Remarkably, Melania showed a particularly astute sense of the tastes of her husband’s political base: Republicans favored her awards by a 15-point margin, while Democrats agreed by only one point,” she said. Alder. “Jill Biden’s accolades had broader appeal among older Americans — the only group she won with — but overall it was Melania with a sense of the country’s flavor.”
When Trump decorated the eastern colonnade with dramatic white winter branches in 2017 — and was then captured during the holiday preview walking through it in a white bell-sleeved dress — the images were described as “creepy” and “nightmarish.”
The following year, the same space caused her some problems, when Trump displayed crimson topiaries made of berries on a green carpet throughout the hallway.
First Lady Melania Trump’s 2020 Cross Hall decorations won by eight points over this year’s First Lady Jill Biden’s Cross Hall decorations. Trump received the support of Republicans, but also won the Democrats by a small majority
The red trees were described as blood-like or resembling the signature costume from The Handmaid’s Tale.
The Bidens have received some criticism for displaying stockings with their grandchildren’s names on them, but never for Hunter’s daughter with Lunden Roberts, Navy Joan.
Earlier this year, the Bidens recognized their seventh grandchild, but there were no stockings at this year’s Christmas show.
However, there was a video performance by a tap dancing ensemble from New York City, which was labeled bizarre, freaky and absolute nonsense by conservatives online.
In a blind assessment of the Christmas decorations of the two first ladies, Trump emerged victorious: 54 percent against 46 percent.