This editor is old enough to remember progressives freaking out over First Lady Melania Trump giving the Rose Garden a much-needed makeover. Jacqueline Kennedy's original 1962 design, much like the East Wing, was considered sacred ground. MSNBC analyst Howard Fineman called the result a "neo-fascist parade ground." Steve Schmidt declared Trump "the worst first lady in history." What was unforgivable to most was the cutting down of the cherry trees, which were actually crabapple trees. They were moved elsewhere on the White House grounds. Some people thought she trimmed the bushes to look like swastikas. "Does anyone else see how the small bushes spell KKK in rows?" asked one TDS sufferer.
In a VIP post back in July, this editor wrote about the latest controversy, after the ballroom and the Reflecting Pool. FactPost, an official DNC rapid response account run by the folks who used to run KamalaHQ, informed us that the administration was "planning to cut down DC's oldest cherry tree to make way for a new Trump golf course." It's not a new golf course — it's a municipal golf course that's been there for over 100 years.
Now, Rep. Don Beyer says it's "awful" that Trump is taking an axe to historic cherry trees to appease his massive ego.
Trump has wrecked many iconic D.C. sites, and now he’s taking an axe to trees in East Potomac Park, including historic cherry trees.
— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) August 28, 2026
I’ve heard from so many locals who hate this, but all Trump's people care about is appeasing his massive ego. This is awful.…
Rick Maese reports for The Washington Post:
Tree removal is common in major golf course renovations, often to widen playing corridors, improve sight lines, and allow more sunlight and air to reach the turf. But the Interior Department characterized the activity as routine maintenance and did not connect it to the proposed redesign, nor did it answer questions about whether notice of the work had been provided to the federal court overseeing a legal challenge to the administration’s plans.
“Arborists are doing routine maintenance at East Potomac Park with selective removal of hazard trees, non-native invasive trees, and declining and dying trees that cannot be brought back to good health through any degree of intervention,” a department spokesperson said in a statement. “Trees throughout the park are regularly monitored for potential safety impacts to visitors, and when a tree is determined to be dying, declining, or hazardous our arborists may make the decision to remove it.”
"Among the most conspicuous was a cherry tree near the 14th green of the Blue Course, one of East Potomac’s most picturesque holes, framed by cherry trees near the southern end of Hains Point," Maese added.
The photo in the article is of a severely diseased tree. What is wrong with you that you can't recognize that diseased & rotten things need to go, I wonder?
— Synoptical Viewer (@hrmnyA) August 29, 2026
Tree maintenance and replacement of dead and diseased trees is now monstrous? Get a life!
— HeartlandGirl (@HeartlandRaised) August 29, 2026
Japan sent replacements for our 250th. Dead and diseased trees are removed all the time. You are a fucking retard.
— Pazza Mamma (@PazzaMamma9) August 29, 2026
This idiot is freaking out over old diseased cherry trees that are being replaced with new ones. He acts like the Sherman Tree is being chopped down.
— Zoey 🇺🇸 (@JethroTroll_1) August 29, 2026
If users want accurate information about the trees in East Potomac Park they will have dig a bit deeper. The US Representative is not accurate in his characterization.
— Frank Gibson (@FrankGibso4498) August 29, 2026
It’s called stewardship. Taking care of our beautiful country. Sometimes diseases take over trees and have to be replaced. Japan donated new cherry trees.
— rgking (@bsanders70) August 29, 2026
Gaslighting ass
— JT (@JimmySportToons) August 29, 2026
Trees have lifespans, you clown
Cherry trees live about 40 yrs.
From the article: pic.twitter.com/ndKDu4J8X8
Beyer the Liar. Should be your campaign slogan. Trees don’t live forever and must be replaced. Trump has repaired and brought back the monuments and parks that decades of Democratic neglect caused. Don’t you have a real job?
— Jan (@Jan2ap) August 29, 2026
You're retarded. They've been culling those trees for years, especially since 2024. The tidal basin walls are crumbling. Causing root rot from the basin. The walls are finally being repaired and the trees culled. Don Beyer pic.twitter.com/TqawOcXOXH
— HavaCrayon (@HavaCrayon) August 29, 2026
Blatant lie. Trump has restored parks, fountains, and monuments that Democrats ignored for decades. The trees are being replaced by newly donated trees from Japan to celebrate America's 250th.
— Profile 1776 🖍 🇺🇲 (@From_1776) August 29, 2026
Diseased trees will spread the disease to other trees but I guess it's too much to expect you to actually use your brain.
— ClevererGirl (@World2Wander) August 29, 2026
Why don't you ask the arborist why it's coming down instead of making it another hit on Trump? The tree in the picture is old and diseased. Trees have lifespans, and often their number just comes up. You do know that Japan has donated new cherry trees for D.C. right?
— Patriot Zero (@HisShadow45) August 29, 2026
These are not the flowering cherry trees along the Potomac.
— Bet Sobon (@SobonBet) August 29, 2026
Hey DON... that tree is diseased. We take down diseased trees, not let them keep standing to infect other trees or fall onto some innocent bystander!! Quit trying to score political points from faux outrage!
— 🇺🇸Silence DoGood🇺🇸 (@Deplorable69er) August 29, 2026
People sure are attached to things like the East Wing and these rotting trees on a golf course. Just this week, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said they're going to have a formal ceremony and blow up the new ballroom. Ballroom Derangement Syndrome, Reflecting Pool Derangement Syndrome, Cherry Tree Derangement Syndrome — add them all to the DSM-5.
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