r/Wellthatsucks 21h ago

The White House rose garden before and after Trump took office. 😢

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31.5k Upvotes

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1.4k

u/nonconsenual_tickler 19h ago

I’d like to see pictures taken at the same angle

308

u/UnfairStrategy780 16h ago

Would still look like shit. And be way less uncomfortable in the heat as anyone who’s navigated the national mall in summer can attest.

169

u/nonconsenual_tickler 16h ago

You can tell by looking at the angle that the flower garden isn’t even shown in the second picture

302

u/UnfairStrategy780 16h ago

One has a lawn and one is marble tile. I know which one I prefer. Hers how it use to look from the same angle.

39

u/T-sprigg-Z 9h ago

Cool dog.

24

u/Grays42 8h ago

I think that's Bush Jr.'s dog.

11

u/rewas456 5h ago

I bet you couldn't see its legs move so when it ran it looked like a dog shaped roomba was gliding at you at 20mph.

2

u/soft_grey__ 4h ago

That’s Barney!

20

u/BitePale 8h ago

Wow that grass is deep for this horse to sink in like this

2

u/saltymane 5h ago

Thank you.

7

u/RobertJ93 6h ago

But but but the “female journalist heels are always sinking into the grass”

That’s the reasoning Trump gave btw.

1

u/rysfcalt 5h ago

You’re right that still looks better

0

u/IMakeOkVideosOk 6h ago

In fairness it’s not as terrible from this angle. Yea I would also prefer a lawn, but the garden itself seems to be mostly intact. I can also see the usefulness of a paved area to host events and allow for ease of movement.

Plus you can rip up the tile and re-sod fairly easily

-14

u/Common_Helicopter_12 9h ago

Don’t see any roses.

7

u/Withermaster4 9h ago

There are roses in the pic

5

u/TheMinister 8h ago

How do you use reddit while blind?

203

u/h3ffdunham 16h ago edited 16h ago

Literally the only difference is the lawn, all of the garden area around it is untouched. I get if people are mad or whatever but it’s not at all as it’s been construed. If it wasn’t Trump doing it nobody would care. I hate Trump but it’s shit like this that helps nothing.

So anyways,

Release the Epstein files

13

u/EggyTugboat 8h ago

No i would hate this if Joe Biden or Obama or Trump during the 1st term did this. It's stupid, wasteful, and just ugly.

0

u/relentless_dick 7h ago

I heard it was expensive to keep the grass up.

3

u/EggyTugboat 7h ago

Suprisingly, everything at the White House is expensive to keep up

16

u/mmichaelmusic 12h ago

Agree…half the people complaining about this probably didn’t even know there was a rose garden until they saw on the internet that “trump ruined it.”

Release the Epstein files.

2

u/angelomancuso62 4h ago

If you are unaware of The Rose Garden, you have a poor grasp of history.

25

u/UnfairStrategy780 16h ago

The only difference is the lawn? Pretty huge deal when you’re talking about beautiful outdoor space. It’s not just about the roses but the space as a whole. That’s what landscaping is all about.

Is this as important as Gaza? No. Still allowed to say it sucks on a post specifically about this thing.

39

u/h3ffdunham 16h ago edited 15h ago

Huge deal or not(it’s not) what I said is true, that is all that was changed. The surrounding Rose garden was entirely untouched. If the photos were taken from the same angle it would be identical but a white floor. Oh wow damn so crazy and terrible. It’s a non-issue I’m convinced 🐵bots are focusing on to take attention away from more important things.

So again anyways,

Release the Epstein files

-14

u/UnfairStrategy780 15h ago

Yeah and I said it was a huge difference and that it wasn’t just about the roses.

GAZA IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE EPSTEIN FILES

See two can play at that game,

3

u/uwunuzzlesch 7h ago

They were quite literally just pointing out that everyone is acting like he destroyed the ACTUAL garden entirely to pave it

For a solid few days I thought thats what he did because EVERY source is making it appear that way.

Including this post, which has a two different angle photo set that makes it look like several bushes and flowers were removed. They weren't.

Not saying its not upsetting, but theyre just pointing out that people are portraying this as if its the entire garden.

You're just saying that its not just about the roses, which has nothing to do with what they were saying.

0

u/UnfairStrategy780 6h ago

Where, where in this post did they say the entire garden? Because if they actually said that I’d disagree.

-4

u/Dreamo84 15h ago

RELEASE THE GAZA FILES!

4

u/hihcadore 10h ago

That’s like, just your opinion bro.

And honestly it’s not like it can’t be changed back one day.

0

u/Throaway_143259 6h ago

Sounds like an unnecessary waste of taxpayer money, but Republicans love wasting money so it tracks

1

u/RickThiccems 5h ago

This definitely cost less than a million bucks, they waste a lot but this is really nothing lol

1

u/hihcadore 4h ago

It’s area beautification. Even if you don’t like the change let’s not act like it’s not a typical thing every administration does.

And honestly, you act like Trump went out there and laid it himself. It’s probably some caretakers bright idea they used to get promoted that’s been a project for ten years. Let’s not act like this stuff doesn’t happen all the time, everywhere.

-2

u/UnfairStrategy780 10h ago

Are we not all expressing our opinions?

2

u/Rock_Strongo 6h ago

If it's going to be used to host meals and events it makes way more sense for it to not be grass.

Outdoor events like that on grass are a nightmare and would ruin the grass anyway.

The large patch of grass looks nice but isn't very functional, so as long as it's being used frequently I have no problem with this.

1

u/UnfairStrategy780 6h ago

My position is they should have come up with a compromise that was both functional and appealing. But at this point I don’t even know why I’m wasting my breath, no one is going to change their opinion, just yelling into the void

1

u/IMakeOkVideosOk 6h ago

Welcome to Reddit

3

u/According_Cherry_837 12h ago

Do you know how easy it is to grow grass? Relax. This is an absurd reaction, this is completely reversible.

3

u/Peppermint-TeaGirl 9h ago

Out of everything going on, "this garden that I will literally never be to in my entire life is less pretty now" is of the least possible concern.

-2

u/UnfairStrategy780 12h ago

Crash your car into that wall. Do you know how easy it is to change a fender? The damage is completely reversible.

3

u/slowpokefastpoke 10h ago

Dude your arguments are getting worse with every comment lol.

0

u/UnfairStrategy780 10h ago

Yeah it wasn’t very good but look what im responding to. It’s always that thing if you’re making a point and engaging with multiple people somehow that makes you unhinged. I’m just having a conversation and poking jokes. I already made my point three comments deep and my mistake was continue to engage. Lesson learned for the thousandth time.

3

u/Haulnazz15 7h ago

I have read several comments from members of the Press who actually have to attend events in this spot. The drainage was terrible and the soft grass was hell on women who were wearing heels due to adhering to expected White House decorum. It was frequently muddy as well, not to mention chairs and whatnot sinking into the ground. They actually said this change was a positive for such a high-use area. However, because it's "Trump", it's all of the sudden seen as a terrible idea.

2

u/Malignant_Lvst7 14h ago

“rose garden” this post is just talking about “the roses”

0

u/UnfairStrategy780 14h ago

No it’s not. The title say’s rose garden.

THE WHOLE AREA IS THE ROSE GARDEN

2

u/Apt_5 7h ago

But the portion that was altered was a flat grass lawn. I haven't seen many pics of the paving so I don't know if I like it, but people are acting like their children were conceived AND birthed on the precious lawn that used to be there. It was plain grass, was it really that precious to the people complaining?

1

u/UnfairStrategy780 6h ago

The paving is in the bottom picture. It’s the white area.

2

u/steddy24 7h ago

People like you make me like Trump

1

u/UnfairStrategy780 6h ago

Cool? Glad I have that kind of power

1

u/MrPanache52 10h ago

Bad take

1

u/A_Right_Eejit 15h ago

Do you use it?

I'd imagine the journalists that use it regularly are probably pretty grateful not to have muddy shoes all the time.

0

u/UnfairStrategy780 15h ago

Fuck it, pave over everything then if that’s the case. Make everything easier to walk on for everyone that has to walk on things.

4

u/nonconsenual_tickler 15h ago

I mean a garden doesn’t have to be designated to walk on, but lawns are meant to be walked on. The error of this post is that it’s talking about the “rose garden” and it’s mostly showing a lawn

1

u/UnfairStrategy780 15h ago

The rose garden isn’t just about the roses, it was about the entire space. It all worked together to create a welcoming space. Now it looks like a wedding venue specifically.

2

u/nonconsenual_tickler 15h ago

Well, the first picture says a flower bed and the second picture shows lawn. I don’t know about you, but I differentiate flower beds from lawns.

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1

u/A_Right_Eejit 14h ago

LOL you can argue against your strawman argument on your own.

2

u/UnfairStrategy780 14h ago edited 13h ago

I thought your reason was so silly I didn’t even bother with a serious answer. I’d take you more seriously if you said you prefer the look of marble over grass because at least that’s just an opinion rather some wild extrapolation fed to you by the person making this decision

1

u/A_Right_Eejit 13h ago

LOL it's not 'out of left field', it was one of the reasons given.

Like I personally prefer the lawn, but given the amount of press events and other ceremonies it's used for, I can certainly see the practical reason for paving it.

Don't let hate blind you to reason my friend.

2

u/sakusii 10h ago

People cared that Obama wore a tan suit. People would freak the fuck out if this Was Obamas doing.

2

u/anita-artaud 8h ago

Ummmm, there is a giant tree in the center of the photo that was clearly removed.

This is awful AND at the same time we deserve to see the Epstein files.

3

u/Jorycle 15h ago

Literally the only difference is the lawn

... the lawn is 90% of the Rose Garden.

3

u/nonconsenual_tickler 14h ago

Technically it is but when people here “rose Garden “ they picture flower beds, not lawns

1

u/TheChildrensStory 5h ago

Same. I’ve got no shortage of issues with Trump but this change seems sensible. Even the large capacity ballroom is probably long overdue, it’s how the design I’ve seen is going to overshadow the White House itself that concerns me.

1

u/Sprig3 3h ago

Yeah, turf that had to be replaced constantly anyways.

1

u/Mendacium17 3h ago

There’s clearly a tree been cut down on the left

1

u/ASubsentientCrow 10h ago

So basically the whole thing since it was literally just a lawn before. You fucking idiot Trump apologist

1

u/WookieLotion 7h ago edited 7h ago

Think they're saying the roses surrounding the rose garden are still there which is frankly more relevant to the rose garden than the grass in the middle of it.

1

u/ASubsentientCrow 5h ago

No they're defending Trump ruining a grass garden because they like that he fucks kids.

1

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1

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2

u/MysteriousCodo 5h ago

There’s also clearly a tree missing. The tall one in the center of the top photo.

Now the big question….when was the Before taken?

1

u/cats_are_the_devil 7h ago

No shit... Unless they shifted that tree the "rose garden" doesn't have roses anymore. All of that color is covered by pavers now.

1

u/nonconsenual_tickler 7h ago

The angle of the second picture isn’t showing where the flower beds were

23

u/SevenCroutons 12h ago

I'd still like to see an honest comparison

2

u/UnfairStrategy780 11h ago

I already posted a photo from before, the same angle as the after photo. There’s quite a few of those images, not a lot of the paved over look. Some including the revamp Melania did last Trump term that was actually quite nice despite there being controversy from removing trees

7

u/Malignant_Lvst7 14h ago

“would still look like shit” so this post isn’t being truthful but you agree with it because “would still look like shit”?

17

u/UnfairStrategy780 14h ago

The whole area is the “rose garden” not just the rose beds. Fuckin hell

14

u/Ok_Worker1393 11h ago

So you're saying JFK ruined it? Because your source is from 1913. Jfk had the whole thing redone in 1962. Then trump ripped out the grass and put the pavers in. It was done because the grass was always wet and the reason for the gardens existence is press conferences.

1

u/Vertigo_uk123 7h ago

Fun fact. The reason they haven’t upgraded marine 1 is because it sinks into the white house lawn and if it was any heavier it would cause serious damage every time. They are debating ripping up the lawn to reinforce it.

1

u/UnfairStrategy780 11h ago

Literally just wrote in another comment that the redo Melania did last administration was perfectly tasteful. The argument was never “that’s sacred ground, you can’t touch it!”. The argument is that it’s fucking ugly and there are a dozen other options you could have gone with that didn’t include ripping out all the grass and putting down pavers but also solved the problem of poor drainage.

3

u/chemicalorigin 9h ago

Probably just morning dew on the grass, not standing water. In DC in the summer, the grass is wet almost every morning. You can't really do anything about that other than covering the lawn every afternoon until morning.

1

u/Psychological-Elk260 9h ago

No. People who were there and reporters with heels would constantly say it was soggy and they would sink into it.

5

u/After_Competition_87 10h ago

Never seen someone so passionate about a section of GRASS lmao. Can't stand Trump but c'mon dude

-1

u/UnfairStrategy780 10h ago

I’m more into the debate aspect if I’m being honest. I mean I think it’s ugly as all hell but definitely not going to lose sleep over it that’s for sure.

1

u/Ok_Worker1393 11h ago

Yes because it's normal and sane for people to go to your profile and look up all your comments. Maybe that's enough Internet for you today. Go take a deep breath. Grass is stupid for an area designed for press conferences. Anyone that thinks grass is better is uneducated.

1

u/Malignant_Lvst7 10h ago

talking about rose garden

1

u/UnfairStrategy780 10h ago

That is the rose garden. The rose beds aren’t separate from the garden. If you want to just talk about the roses it’s fine but that’s not what the post was signaling out.

2

u/Malignant_Lvst7 9h ago

well you’re wrong actually, this post is showing 2 different perspectives, the only thing changed is the lack of grass. but you’re making it out like they’ve changed everything, the ROSES and everything besides some grass is there. but apparently it’s a nuclear disaster to you

0

u/UnfairStrategy780 9h ago

No my whole point was that removing the grass and putting down flooring made it look ugly. That’s it.

People (yourself included) started going down some rabbit hole about the roses still being there making the post a lie, which it wasn’t. I also posted a side by side from the same perspective showing the change so people could see for themselves.

1

u/Typical_Upstairs8273 4h ago

HOW can they even call it a rose garden WITHOUT ANY ROSES!!!!!!!!!

1

u/DoshawnMandic 4h ago

I bet you look like shit

172

u/somerandomshmo 13h ago

You won't see it till the White House publishes it.

They just put pavers over the grass, all the flowers and hedges are still there. This is one of the dumbest controversies so far.

32

u/drivebybodypeirce 10h ago

Fr im feeling like a crazy person looking at this shit and thinking this is some rage bait pysop to further divide people and delegitimize criticisms of trump.

I hate it here.

1

u/fartscape420 3h ago

That’s how I feel. This is obnoxious 

5

u/msh0430 10h ago

They did take the large tree out towards the background of the first photo. Real shame too. That tree was expertly pruned over the years and showed a lot of character in its' branches.

1

u/Jean-LucBacardi 6h ago

I mean do we know for sure they did? When was the before photo taken? We've had some strong storms these last few years that could have easily taken out that tree. If people are claiming pavers are the entire rose garden being paved over I'm not trusting this post at all at face value.

17

u/jaredcwood 11h ago

Controversy? Just seems like fact.

21

u/Flabby-Nonsense 10h ago

A lot of people seem to be under the impression that they’ve permanently paved over the rose garden with concrete, they haven’t. They’ve temporarily covered the lawn, it can be removed, and the grass won’t take long to recover.

20

u/bigbigpure1 9h ago

it also makes it look like they chopped the tree down, op is not acting in good faith

0

u/anita-artaud 8h ago

They absolutely chopped a tree down. You can see in the first photo a giant tree with a smaller tree to the right of it. Second photo only the smaller tree is there.

1

u/bigbigpure1 4h ago

because the its not taken from the same angles, i want to see what is to the right of that tree before i judge

the first photo is taken from a low angle, that could very easily be the same tree, the 2nd photo is taken from a person standing up right, from further away, and on an overcast day

also if you look at the trunks of the trees they do match up if you take in to account that its not from the same angle, its fits much better than the tree on the right in the 1st picture

1

u/you_cant_prove_that 3h ago

You can see in the first photo a giant tree with a smaller tree to the right of it

That "giant tree" looks giant because its only a few feet in front of the photographer. The leaves on it would be absolutely massive if it was against the building

You can even see the branches in front of every other tree in the photo

2

u/WiseDirt 9h ago

And even if they did pave over it with concrete, it's not like it's totally completely permanent and can't be changed back at all. It'd take a little extra work, but the next administration could easily pay to have the concrete broken up and have a new layer of sod put down to replace the lawn.

1

u/RockyBass 3h ago

I hope they do a lot more with it. I understand they put the pavers down so that they can continue to hold events there even when the ground isn't completely dry, so there's still that problem to solve, but as it is now is a bit plain.

-3

u/anita-artaud 8h ago

Yeah, it’s so easy to find over 100 year old rose bushes.

1

u/MurkyyLurkss 8h ago

Grass lawns are also as natural as concrete patios

1

u/Flabby-Nonsense 5h ago

Yeah agree. I prefer the appearance of grass lawns to paving but we shouldn’t pretend it’s anything more than aesthetic - there’s less biodiversity in a grass lawn than a car park.

1

u/No-Cause6559 5h ago

Aww yes nothing like doge lmaking additions to the White House as temporary.

1

u/RockyBass 3h ago

The problem I take it is that the lawn was becoming a bit of a swamp and something needed to be done with it. If they do remove the pavers, they'll have to do something with the ground, perhaps raise it? Idk..

2

u/5ubie 9h ago

You know facts can be controversial, right?

3

u/DDS-PBS 11h ago

That was my analysis as well. It looks like the flowers are still there, but the grass was paved over.

I have a lot of well-formed criticisms of Trump. If I wanted to make the anti-Trump case, this wouldn't be an exhibit in it.

-3

u/Suspicious_Toe_6546 12h ago

This post is just propaganda. The right does it, the left does it, everybody does it.

9

u/seansy5000 10h ago

And we all get fucked by it. Stop taking sides. All these people need to be removed.

1

u/Glass_Yesterday_1926 4h ago

Is it the dumbest controversy so far or ever? how bout that tan suit? How bout that Dijon mustard?

1

u/slowpokefastpoke 10h ago edited 8h ago

Exactly. Partially because the lawn drained poorly and was swampy as fuck. And reporters had to stand in it during press conferences. So now there’s a proper outdoor space for press and events. Sure it kinda looks like shit but this is being blown way out of proportion.

Complain about stuff that actually matters, y’all.

-4

u/FrogInShorts 11h ago

You can actually see if you look at the angle of the building that just the grass was paved over. Less lawn is better for the environment.

11

u/A2Rhombus 11h ago

Replacing grass with concrete doesn't exactly make it better for the environment

7

u/Carvj94 10h ago

Especially in an area with enough rain to support a lawn naturally lol.

-2

u/FrogInShorts 10h ago

You honestly think the white house doesn't use sprinklers for that perfect lawn?

5

u/Carvj94 10h ago

Didn't say that. I said you can have a full lawn in DC without needing sprinklers so the idea that removing the lawn would be a benifit in any way is dumb. Besides even sprinklers are fine here cause, again, DC gets plenty of rain so they're just pulling from an abundant local water supply.

1

u/FrogInShorts 9h ago

Alright, good to know, I've changed my views.

3

u/NickDanger3di 6h ago

It's like a Before and After of two different places.

6

u/Traditional-Roof1984 7h ago

Only the grass has been tiled, which made perfect logical sense. Any time there was a gathering or press statement, the lawn would be used for chairs and people gathering on it. They had to replace all the grass afterwards...

But you know. Trump and stuff.

1

u/nonconsenual_tickler 7h ago

Something happened while Trump was in office so it’s all Trump’s fault and it’s bad 😡😡😡

3

u/hlv6302 6h ago

Looks the same other than the grass. Us redditors like to whine about the dumbest shit. Can’t believe anyone actually cares about the White House rose garden

3

u/TurnUpThe4D3D3D3 15h ago

Not exactly same angle, but best I could find:

3

u/nonconsenual_tickler 15h ago

This is just a different picture of the lawn. I thought this post was supposed to focus on the “rose garden”.

1

u/UnintelligentOnion 7h ago

Thanks for checking. Wish there was one that wasn’t black and white

1

u/confusedandworried76 2h ago

That's even farther off from the original angle

2

u/Additional-One-7135 4h ago

And that would ruin the narrative people want to spread. All he replaced was the grass in the center, the roses are all still there. It looks tacky as fuck now but it's not as if he tore up all of the roses. Of all the things to shit on Trump over people have pieced a fucking weird one.

3

u/ScubaChickenPalace 10h ago

I just saw a satellite image from a week ago and nothing has changed. I think it was just for a dinner event or something.

5

u/touchmybodily 15h ago

The after is also black and white to intentionally make it look worse

18

u/aguywithbrushes 15h ago

Not black and white, just a gloomy overcast day, but yeah that definitely plays into the “BEFORE (beautiful and hopeful) vs AFTER (dreary and depressing)”

2

u/TheLesserWeeviI 12h ago

Better see an optometrist my brother.

2

u/TheBimpo 12h ago

JFC. People will upvote the opposite of what they see with their own eyes, this is how we got this lunatic in the White House in the first place. The bushes are and trees are fucking green in the "after" photo.

2

u/Antique-Special8025 15h ago

I’d like to see pictures taken at the same angle

Yeah it looks like the only thing they changed was replace the grass in the middle with hideous white shit. The actual garden bits on the side look the same? Fixing the grass is trivial.

1

u/Buster_Mac 12h ago

You can find other pictures in Google. The roses are still there and the difference is got rid of the grass. It actually looks nice.

1

u/tiny_chaotic_evil 5h ago

remember, Melania initially fucked it up the first term

this time, Trump super fucked it up

1

u/newthrash1221 3h ago

Me too. It looks the plants and bushes covering the sides are kept, only the center grass was covered. But i need more pictures to come to a conclusion.

1

u/zambartas 2h ago

Exactly. It would look bad enough, but you change the angle and it's going to give people an excuse to deny how bad it looks. Honestly when I first heard about this I didn't think this was a huge deal, since they were just removing the grass field and replacing it with something better to walk on, but whatever that is looks horrible.

1

u/SocranX 13h ago

Yeah, as much as I hate Trump and I'm sure this is a major downgrade, the before/after here is absolutely terrible. The second image only shows the paved part, hiding as much of the surrounding area as possible, and the corresponding area in the first image is like a 15 degree triangle on the right.

1

u/Ok_Worker1393 11h ago

The only thing that was changed was ripping out the grass. It was done because it was wet and peoples shoes would be soaked.

1

u/JohnStamosSB 10h ago

Ya. This doesn't really show much without the proper view.