=== Life in the White House ===

[[File:Juliana Awada and Melania Trump walk along the Colonnade of the White House, April 2017 (cropped).jpg|upright|thumb|Melania Trump with Argentine first lady [[Juliana Awada]] in 2017]]

 

After moving to the White House, Melania opted to spend most of her time in the private quarters, running the White House staff from there instead of the first lady's East Wing offices. She oversaw restorations of several rooms in the building, including the bowling alley in the [[White House basement]] and the first lady's hairdresser's room.{{Sfn|Jordan|2020|pp=241–242}} She kept one office, called the "swag room" by aides, in which she kept trinkets she collected while she was first lady.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Rogers |first=Katie |date=2024-02-17 |title=How Two First Ladies Weathered a Most Unusual Presidential Transition |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/17/us/politics/how-two-first-ladies-weathered-a-most-unusual-presidential-transition.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227093612/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/17/us/politics/how-two-first-ladies-weathered-a-most-unusual-presidential-transition.html |archive-date=February 27, 2024 |access-date=2024-03-08 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> To accommodate Barron's soccer practice, she had a net installed on the White House grounds and had a coach practice with him.{{Sfn|Jordan|2020|p=255}} Barron remained Melania's top priority when she was first lady, and she worked to keep him free from politics to the point that staffers referred to her as "The Protector".{{Sfn|Jordan|2020|p=271}} Even after arriving at the White House, Melania spent extensive time away each year, visiting Mar-a-Lago on major holidays and over many weekends.{{Sfn|Bennett|2019|pp=156–157}}[[File:White House Christmas 2018 (46060476411).jpg|thumb|Melania Trump examining the 2018 White House Christmas decorations]]Melania personally involved herself in decorations and planning within the White House.{{Sfn|Bennett|2019|p=142}} She was particular about how things were designed and arranged whenever events were planned, but she would take on a calm and relaxed demeanor once the event began.{{Sfn|Bennett|2019|p=105}} Whenever a foreign dignitary arrived at the White House, Melania had the [[Blue Room (White House)|Blue Room]] set aside where she ate lunch or drank tea with the dignitary's spouse.{{Sfn|Bennett|2019|p=150}} When choosing which [[White House china|presidential china set]] to use, Melania often chose the [[Clinton administration]] china with its gold embroidery.{{Sfn|Bennett|2019|p=151}} She held events less frequently than her predecessors, with a typical week featuring three or fewer events, all under one hour long.{{Sfn|Bennett|2019|p=157}} Among her most ambitious projects was planning the White House Christmas decorations in 2018. Moving away from traditional designs, she filled the East Collonnade with red cranberry-laden trees set atop a green carpet. The design was widely derided, which Melania ascribed to personal taste.{{Sfn|Bennett|2019|pp=142–144}}