The White House unveiled its Halloween decorations on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, but the festive display of pumpkins and autumn leaves has sparked criticism from Americans concerned about more pressing matters — namely, millions facing the loss of food assistance benefits due to the ongoing government shutdown.
The Office of the First Lady shared a photograph on X, showing the back entrance and staircases of the Executive Residence adorned with pumpkins and colorful leaves cascading between the South Portico’s columns. The decorations mark the beginning of Melania Trump’s first holiday season at the White House since 2020.
The timing of the Halloween reveal drew swift backlash on social media, where critics pointed out that millions of Americans are set to lose their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, which won’t be issued on November 1 due to the government shutdown. One user commented on the disconnect between decorating with food while many Americans face hunger, questioning whether the pumpkins could be better used to provide nutrition to those in need.
The 2025 Halloween display represents a notably simpler approach compared to previous years. The decorations evoke a generic fall theme rather than traditional spooky Halloween imagery, which may be intentional to avoid frightening young guests who attend the traditional trick-or-treat event with the president and first lady. In 2019, the White House featured spindly trees with orange lighting to set a more ominous mood, while the socially distanced 2020 event during the COVID era included far more variety among the decorations.
The Halloween decorations arrive amid significant controversy surrounding the White House construction projects, particularly the demolition of the East Wing to make way for President Donald Trump’s planned ballroom. According to the Wall Street Journal, Melania Trump privately raised concerns about tearing down the East Wing and told associates it wasn’t her project, according to administration officials.
Katherine Jellison, a historian at Ohio University who specializes in first ladies, expressed grave concerns about the demolition’s impact on historical preservation. She described seeing the initial images of the destruction as her living nightmare, noting that professional historians, architectural experts, and preservationists were not consulted before bulldozers began tearing down the structure. Jellison emphasized that oral historians rely on physical spaces to help former first ladies, their children, and staff members recall specific memories and events.
The historian referenced Betty Ford’s observation that “If the West Wing is the mind of the nation, then the East Wing is the heart,” underscoring the symbolic importance of the demolished structure. The East Wing gained its current form through expansion in the early 1940s during Eleanor Roosevelt’s tenure, when it was built over an underground bunker constructed during World War II. Roosevelt, considered one of the most active and influential first ladies in American history, set precedents that established the East Wing as the traditional base for presidential spouses’ offices and activities.
The first lady’s staff has been relocated during construction. Her Office and the social office, which coordinates major White House events, have been temporarily moved inside the executive mansion, divided among the Vermeil Room, the South Mezzanine, the Library, and the China Room, according to White House officials. Other departments previously housed in the East Wing have been moved to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Melania Trump has maintained public silence about the demolition despite its impact on her workspace. She has been a remote presence during her husband’s second term, spending only 14 of his first 100 days in Washington, D.C., according to the New York Times, preferring to stay in New York City or Palm Beach. She has also reduced her staff to just five full-time members as of July.
The ballroom project, which Trump says will cost at least $350 million, has received funding from major corporations including Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Google, HP, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Palantir Technologies, T-Mobile, and Union Pacific Railroad. The president’s ambitions for the entertainment space date back to at least 2010, when he contacted Obama’s top strategist David Axelrod, offering to build what he described as beautiful ballrooms to replace what he characterized as inferior tent facilities used for state dinners.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle defended the project, stating that the newly improved East Wing and brand new ballroom will make the People’s House more useful and beautiful for generations of presidents and Americans to come. However, the public backlash has been significant, with former first lady Hillary Clinton commenting on X that the White House belongs to the American people, not the president, and criticizing the destruction.
