Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
US President Donald Trump, on Monday, hosted his first White House Easter Egg Roll since returning to office. Trump stood on the Blue Room balcony with First Lady Melania Trump and the Easter Bunny beside him and addressed a large crowd gathered on the South Lawn.
“We’re bringing religion back in America. We’re bringing a lot of things back, but religion is coming back to America,” Trump said. “That’s why you see the kind of numbers that you see, the spirit and the kind of numbers that you see.”
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According to Trump, 40,000 were expected to participate in the Easter celebration over the course of the day. The event, which dates back to 1878 in the Rutherford B. Hayes administration, included games, music, and other family-oriented activities. The event was funded by large technology firms and financed through private sources, not taxpayer funds.
The event also took place just hours after the death of Pope Francis, who passed away at age 88 after facing several health issues. To honour the late pope, Trump signed an executive order to lower flags across the country.
“I just signed an executive order putting the flags of our country, all of them, all federal flags and state flags, at half-mast in honour of Pope Francis. So, he was a good man. Worked hard. He loved the world, and it’s an honour to do that,” Trump said.
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Trump said that he would attend Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome.
TECH GIANTS JOIN IN
The Easter Egg Roll featured a variety of fun activities. Major technology firms like Amazon, Meta, and YouTube sponsored various segments of the event.
YouTube provided the “Bunny Hop Stage,” Amazon built a Reading Nook, while Meta built a photo booth with features of artificial intelligence. The White House, via a firm known as Harbinger, had allegedly requested sponsorship values ranging from $75,000 to $200,000 to fund the event.
Over 30,000 eggs were consumed during the festivities. A week before, Trump made his remarks on dropping egg prices to the effect that they were “too low.”
Some key political faces were seen at the event, including White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, senior aide Stephen Miller, and FBI Director Kash Patel.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
