Petition Urges Jill Biden To 'Restore Jackie Kennedy's Rose Garden' After Melania Trump's Renovations
WASHINGTON (CBS) -- More than 50,000 people have signed an online petition urging the White House to make changes to the Rose Garden following former First Lady Melania Trump's renovations last year. The Change.org petition calls on First Lady Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff to "restore Jackie Kennedy's Rose Garden."
According to the White House Historical Association, former President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy wanted to renew the Rose Garden into something more "useful and attractive" after being inspired by the gardens they saw in Europe.
Trump unveiled her changes in the summer of 2020, and said they were done in the spirit of the 1962 design.
She added boxwoods in a diamond-like shape and removed and replanted several crabapple trees elsewhere on the White House grounds.
Excited to honor history & celebrate the future in our beautiful @WhiteHouse Rose Garden this evening. Thank you to all who helped renew this iconic & truly gorgeous space. pic.twitter.com/ggiqLkdGbw
— Melania Trump 45 Archived (@FLOTUS45) August 22, 2020
But the petition complains that the Trump renovations were a "boring tribute to herself."
"Jackie's legacy was ripped away from Americans who remembered all that the Kennedy's meant to us," the petition states. "We want Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff to take this on and restore the Rose Garden to Jackie's original design."
The White House has not yet commented on the petition.