As members of Congress head home for the Christmas break, WSJ's Gerald F. Seib lists his big stories to look out for in 2018. Photo: Getty
What Big Stories to Look Out for in 2018 2:48
FOR weeks, US President Donald Trump has been liberally sprinkling his public remarks with Christmas tidings. And then pointing it out in case anyone fails to notice.
Trump has long promised that this year would be different after what he saw as a trend towards giving the Christian celebration short shrift in favour of a more generic and inclusive “Happy Holidays” message.
“Well, guess what? We’re saying Merry Christmas again,” Trump announced in October at a Values Voter Summit of conservatives.
For all of that, though, it turns out the 2017 holiday rhythms at the White House are similar to those of years past.
The president participated in the annual lighting of the National Christmas tree. The house has been decked out for the season with an array of traditional trimmings There has been a whirlwind of parties, including a reception to mark Hanukkah.
The White House holidays under Barack and Michelle Obama also included plenty of Christmas trappings and cheer. Obama offered a more general holiday message on the official greeting card but wished “Merry Christmas” at the National Tree lighting, on his Twitter account and in his weekly address.
Trump has expressed concern about a diminished “Merry Christmas” message for years.
In 2011, he criticised Obama’s approach, saying on Twitter that the president had “issued a statement for Kwanza but failed to issue one for Christmas”.
In fact, that year Obama wished people “Merry Christmas” from his Twitter account and gave a video address with his wife in which he wished people a “Merry Christmas and happy holidays”.
Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton also offered greetings marking Kwanzaa, the week-long African heritage festivities in December. The White House said Trump will also have a statement on Kwanzaa. At the official lighting of the National Christmas tree this year, Trump offered an overtly religious message, noting that “for Christians, this is a holy season”. He added that the “Christmas story begins 2000 years ago with a mother, a father, their baby son, and the most extraordinary gift of all, the gift of God’s love for all of humanity”.
But his predecessor also made remarks grounded in Christian traditions. At his final tree lighting, Obama opened with “Merry Christmas,” and spoke about this being a time to “celebrate the birth of our Saviour, as we retell the story of weary travellers, a star, shepherds, Magi”. He went on to discuss the message of the holiday, saying that it “grounds not just my family’s Christian faith but that of Jewish Americans, Muslim Americans, nonbelievers — Americans of all backgrounds.” Trump’s emphasis on Christmas has been welcomed by evangelical Christians who see it as evidence of his commitment to religious liberty.
Trump has begun his year-end vacation at his exclusive golf club and resort in West Palm Beach.
He travelled to South Florida where he will spend the Christmas and New Year’s holidays with his family.
According to the pool reporters accompanying him, the president arrived on Saturday shortly after 9am at the Trump International Golf Club, where he is expected to spend a good part of the day amid warm temperatures and clear skies. Trump landed, along with his wife Melania and their son Barron, on Friday afternoon at Palm Beach International Airport, from where they were taken by car to the Mar-a-Lago club on the Palm Beach coast and where they will spend their first Christmas since moving into the White House.
The president, fresh from notching his first legislative victory in Washington — the passage by the Republican-controlled Congress of his tax reform bill this past week — also spent the 2016 Christmas holiday as president-elect at Mar-a- Lago, some 100km north of Miami.
So far on Saturday morning, Trump has been silent on his official Twitter account, in contrast to Friday, when he hailed the approval of the tax reform bill and backed congressmen Ron DeSantis, who is expected to formally announce his candidacy for Florida governor.
“Congressman Ron DeSantis is a brilliant young leader, Yale and then Harvard Law, who would make a GREAT Governor of Florida. He loves our Country and is a true FIGHTER!” Trump tweeted.
The online media outlet Politico on Friday afternoon reported that Trump met at Mar-a-Lago with Republican senatorial aspirant for Arizona Kelli Ward, whom the mogul is also supporting.
On Friday afternoon, upon his arrival in Palm Beach, the president greeted a group of Jewish supporters who expressed to him their thanks for commuting the prison sentence of Sholom Rubashkin, a top executive for the biggest US meat packing plant convicted in 2009 for money laundering.
According to a report by CNN on Friday, Trump has spent 106 days of his presidency visiting the numerous properties he owns.
He was at Mar-a-Lago on 34 of those days, that location being his favourite leisure spot during the months of January, February and March, according to CNN.
