December 3, 2020

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The National Christmas Tree will be illuminated this evening, remaining lit every night for the rest of December! This ceremony is a holiday tradition dating back to 1923 when President Calvin Coolidge lit the first National Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve.

Guests can view the tree in President’s Park near the White House, along with 56 other trees representing each U.S. state, territory, and the District of Columbia. Students across the nation designed ornaments that will be displayed on the trees. For more information, visit thenationaltree.org!

https://www.whitehouse.gov/adventcalendar/?share_id=251341&utm_source=url#3

December 4, 2020

Shortly before Christmas 1945, President Harry Truman asked his maître d’hôtel, Alonzo Fields, to find a family in need of a Christmas meal. President Truman sent Fields with cash from the President’s own wallet to buy each child in the family a present. “If this isn’t enough, let me know,” he added.

Fields located a family who had fallen on hard times—but realized they did not even have a cooking stove, so he returned to the White House and suggested to President Truman that the meal be cooked in the White House kitchen instead. The President agreed.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/adventcalendar/?share_id=251343&utm_source=url#4

Defense

Rebuilding U.S. deterrence to preserve peace through strength must be our Nation’s top priority. The unprecedented era of peace that followed World War II revealed that the free world is safest when America is strongest. The slow depletion of our military in recent years has resulted in an escalation of threats the world over, which President Trump is committed to reversing.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/national-security-defense/