Melania Trump's 2019 White House Christmas decor is drawing comparisons to an iconic horror film

Dillon Thompson
Updated ·2 min read
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It's a yearly tradition for the first family to unveil the official White House Christmas tree, and on Sunday evening Melania Trump showed this year's set of holiday decorations.

The first lady designed the elaborate decor, which, according to a White House press release, followed a theme of "The Spirit of America." For some observers, though there was another, far stranger theme that felt more accurate.

That suggestion, for some, was that the designs bore a striking resemblance to Stanley Kubrick's iconic 1980 film, "The Shining."

Shortly after the first lady posted a clip to Twitter revealing the Christmas decor, numerous users chimed in to compare her video with the classic horror movie.

"This remake of The Shining is the scariest one yet," author John Pavlovitz commented.

"Melania’s theme this year is “Ending Scene of The Shining," another user wrote, along with photos of the White House's interior.

Many seemed to believe that Mrs. Trump's decorations — which included numerous trees, stark red curtains and even a gingerbread replica of the White House — strongly resembled scenes at the end of "The Shining," during which the film's haunted mountain lodge is decorated in an eerie red decor.

Others specifically targetted the first lady's video, which features her strolling alone through the White House's empty halls. There's even a moment at the end of the footage — in which two men in matching white outfits appear to Mrs. Trump's far side — that many said reminded them of "The Shining's" infamously spooky twins.

This isn't the first time the White House has been mocked for its Christmas decorations. Last year, the residence's stark, red trees drew comparisons to outfits worn on the dystopian TV show, "The Handmaid's Tale." In 2017, the decor was tied to everything from "The Blair Witch Project" to "The Chronicles of Narnia."

But the work behind Mrs. Trump's 2019 design is pretty jaw-dropping. According to the White House's press release, there are 46 trees in the home's "winter garden," in addition to its centerpiece, 18-foot evergreen. Meanwhile, the house's massive gingerbread replica took more than 300 pounds of dough and 35 pounds of chocolate to create.