35. White House Holiday decorating ideas you can steal
A CNN reporter shares an inside look at WH Xmas over 3 admins, her WH engagement story, and what Air Force One is really like.
Hi friends.
Every year, my friend Betsy Klein—a CNN senior reporter who's covered the White House across three administrations—posts photos of Christmas trees I've never seen anywhere else. This year: a tree inside a merry-go-round.
But here’s why we should pay attention: Betsy understands that power reveals itself through details. A Burberry trench is diplomacy. What you choose not to say is a statement. She’s been in the room for the historic presidential trips, the pandemic response—and she’s learned to read what’s actually happening underneath the official narrative.
With a resume like that and an Emmy to boot, one might assume we’d be talking about foreign policy or perhaps emerging media trends. But, dear reader, that is not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to sit down with her to talk about more important things; Like her thoughts on Melania’s documentary, inspo for our own holiday displays next year, and what Korean beauty treatment she got in Seoul. Let’s go.
You get a lot of exclusive access to the White House, including first looks on Christmas. Did you ever imagine this would be a perk of your adult life when you were little?
I’ve covered White House Christmases every year since December 2016 - so one year of Obama, four Biden years, and now five years of Trump. I truly could not have imagined having this kind of access, and especially at the holidays. The best, best part of that has been being able to bring my loved ones to see it, and sharing it with them has been so special. My fascination with the White House dates back to first grade, when my teacher, Mrs. Neissner, did a daily lesson on every American president. I became completely obsessed, especially with the role of the first lady.
Melania’s aesthetic choices seem to generate a lot of cultural conversation. Why do you think people are so fascinated and is that unique to Melania or steady over all first ladies?
I think generally there’s a ton of public fascination with first ladies across time - my 6-year-old self was very into Eleanor Roosevelt and Dolley Madison. But Melania Trump generates extra interest and scrutiny precisely because she’s very private, which lends this air of mystery - and because we hear from her in her own words so rarely, we don’t have a ton of insight into what she’s thinking.
She gives these breadcrumb clues, which the public ascribes meaning to in whichever direction they choose. That’s one of the reasons why her sartorial choices are so closely watched. She didn’t give any public remarks during a recent state visit to the United Kingdom, but we saw her in several different outfits that offered subtle diplomacy - a Burberry trench to nod to her hosts, for instance.
Of course there was also the “I really don’t care, do u?” moment - and when she opts against offering a fulsome explanation, the public fills in the blanks. It’s important to note she’s a fiercely independent person, but she’s also deeply politically aligned with and loyal to her husband.
Are you gonna watch her documentary?
I cannot wait for this documentary. The trailer was completely mind-boggling for the sole reason that Melania Trump is the executive producer of this project. That means that she has complete editorial control over what it looks like and what she says. So the fact that, out of 20 full days of footage, they choose THIS moment as the climax at the end of the trailer - “Hi Mr. President, congratulations.” “Did you watch it?” “I did not. Yeah. I will see it on the news.” - is stunning.
What does it mean? What will this documentary say about their relationship in this second term? Maybe nothing, but maybe it’ll be revealing. We know that Melania Trump pretty much has carte blanche from the president to do whatever she wants this term, and she is choosing to spend the vast majority of her time outside of the White House. Will we learn any more about that? I have so many questions.
Same! There’s so much going on at the White House - do you ever feel like you’re documenting a reality show?
It is a reality show in that my job is essentially capturing a first draft of American history - which is a serious responsibility but also, objectively, wild. President Trump in the briefing room questioning whether we should inject bleach to cure Covid-19 – that was completely stunning.
I wasn’t in the room (I was in Palm Beach awaiting his arrival) - but the Oval Office fight with President Zelensky was also surreal. On the other end of that spectrum - the completely delightful interaction with Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani blew everyone’s mind.
In all your years covering the White House, what’s been the most stunning tree you’ve ever seen there?
Last year’s official White House Christmas tree in the Blue Room was a real standout to me because it was just so completely over-the-top and colorful and creative and fun. The tree was basically inside a merry-go-round surrounded by these very delightful, whimsically-designed animals. It was brightly colored and had a circus-like base and these festive pennants and ribbons. The criticism was that it barely looked like a tree - but I’ve really never seen anything like it and it really delighted me.
But my favorite part of the White House holiday display is the East Colonnade, where there usually actually aren’t any trees. This is the window-filled walkway between where you enter the East Wing and the actual White House executive mansion, but it was demolished this year to make way for the new ballroom.
It’s where the so-called “blood trees” were displayed, there was a candy theme one year, bows and bells last year - it’s always such a magical, festive spot. According to a court filing, there are plans to rebuild the East Colonnade as a two-story hallway, and I am hopeful that it will once more be a special holiday spot.
What do holiday decorations look like at your house?
I’ve definitely found inspiration from the White House holiday displays and our holiday decor is a bit whimsical, surprise-and-delight - maybe less maximalist but still colorful like we saw in the Biden era.
My fiancé, Jeff, and I battle over tinsel (I am very pro-tinsel and lost the battle this year). We celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah over here and we are collecting a fun assortment of Hanukkah tree ornaments. We also collect the official annual ornament from the White House Historical Association and they are some of my favorites.
If I did do any decorating, I think tinsel would be my #1! Any advice for decorating readers who want to decorate their house like a first lady?
What always surprises me about the White House holiday decorations is how creative and crafty the designs can be - but also pretty easy to replicate at your local Michael’s. One year they filled the tables and mantle in the Vermeil Room with these ribbon trees, and it was basically just foam trees at various heights with velvet ribbon layered and hot-glued - totally doable. One year they hung bells from red ribbons at various lengths and it was so pretty and festive.
Last year in the East Room they made this absolutely stunning display of what was essentially big chunks of gold and silver confetti glued onto fishing line and hung from the ceiling. If you’re into DIY, you could definitely achieve this look.
Apparently we were in South Korea at the same time, but you had a much more eventful schedule!
OMG! This was the final stop of a three-country tour for President Trump that started in Malaysia and included Tokyo. We were in Gyeongju for the APEC Summit, which is this big annual gathering of world leaders. Trump also met with President Xi during that stop, which was pretty newsy in terms of thawing US-China relations (for now, at least).
The thing about traveling abroad with the president is that it’s completely grueling because you generally are covering the events during the day but also often keeping US hours (so just napping in 2-hour increments for days on end) and there is very little time for extracurricular activities UNTIL the president is wheels up and the trip is over.
So when that happened, I caught a train to Seoul ahead of my flight the next morning, arriving in town around 5pm. I knew I wanted to have some sort of K-beauty experience but wasn’t really sure where to look. I ended up booking a treatment that a friend of mine had seen on TikTok.
It was described as a “facial symmetry session,” where they did an AI analysis of everything wrong with my face, and then pointed it out to me in great detail. Then they hooked me up to acupuncture with electric currents, did chiropractic adjustment and a facial massage (the kind where they put gloved hands in your mouth). I think I look exactly the same amount of symmetrical as I did before but I loved every minute of it. Highly recommend Duna!
I suppose that, sometimes with beauty treatments, it’s about the journey not the destination! Is Air Force One cool?
Air Force One is definitely cool, but the press area of the plane isn’t as glamorous as you might expect. The seats are like a first class domestic plane, they don’t really recline much - which is totally fine when you’re going to Phoenix, but less great when you’re on the way to Tokyo. You’re also on hyper-alert at all times because the president can just decide he wants to come to the back of the plane and hold a gaggle at any point in the flight without much warning - so you gotta be ready.
Being alert the whole flight sounds so hard - we’re not giving you journalists enough credit! I’ve noticed that you’ve been making way more short-form videos for CNN — what’s driving that strategy?
Our digital video strategy has changed a lot over the past years but I think the team has really hit its stride in creating content that you wouldn’t just watch on cable — content that takes people behind the scenes in a more casual way to engage new audiences. I really love it because it can be a bit more creative and less broadcast-y, if that makes sense.
Yes definitely makes sense! Speaking of making videos at CNN, can we talk about your engagement?
Jeff and I had been together for about five years and I had been on high alert all year for an engagement - I kind of expected it would happen over the holidays last year and it didn’t. (I may have had a bit of a meltdown.) But it was really important to Jeff that it be a big surprise and he got this idea to do it at the White House.
At the end of the Biden administration, I was working a weekend morning TV shift, doing hits from 6-11am. At the very end of my shift on January 19 - one day before Inauguration - my photojournalist colleagues Peter Morris and Khalil Abdallah told me that they needed my help testing new equipment for vertical videos. I agreed to walk outside and tape a mock video for them to suss out how the new rig worked.
After the first take, Peter said it wasn’t very good and I needed to do it again - it was sleeting out and so cold and I was so annoyed. The second take, Jeff taps me on the shoulder and gets down on one knee. It took me a few moments to realize we weren’t actually testing new video equipment. I was completely shocked and surprised - I did NOT expect it to happen there, nor did I expect a three-camera shoot capturing the moment (plus photos from NYT legend Doug Mills). It required an enormous amount of coordination between Jeff and White House wranglers and comms team, literally on the last full day of the Biden admin. It was such a happy moment and day!
Serious kudos to Jeff for pulling that off! I’ll end on a more serious question. Journalists are really important for thwarting corruption and unfortunately it keeps getting harder to be one due to shrinking news rooms etc. What’s your advice for young people who might be thinking about it as a career?
It’s so hard! But in my experience, it’s been completely worth it. You have to be willing to get in early and stay late and do work that you are way overqualified to do just to get a foot in the door. I think the most important thing you can do is to seek opportunities beyond your job description - pitch a story no one else is doing, volunteer to help on an overnight shift - that is the way to stand out.
But I think in this news environment, you may have to cast a wider and different kind of net to get started - it might not be the traditional entry-level network job, it might be new media. And don’t be afraid to network - reach out to everyone you can, people are always willing to help and give advice and bounce ideas.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for caring about this stuff too. Here’s to 2025 being the year we all notice more, ask better questions, and maybe—just maybe—steal some gold confetti-glued-to-fishing-line energy for our own homes.
Happy New Year.
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