Author and NBC News presidential historian Michael Beschloss, 65, tweeted on Saturday August 7 to commemorate one-year since former First Lady Melania Trump, 51, drastically renovated the White House Rose Garden. Michael shared a “grim” photo of the changes made to the iconic landscape, and Melania’s office responded on Sunday August 8 to refute his claims.
Michael tweeted the photo of the bare-looking Rose Garden shortly after the renovation was completed, and it was unveiled to the public. The historian didn’t hide the fact that he felt like the changes were a travesty. “Evisceration of White House Rose Garden was completed a year ago this month, and here was the grim result—decades of American history made to disappear,” he wrote.
Melania’s office quote-tweeted Michael with a new image of the Rose Garden in bloom and said that historian “has proven his ignorance by showing a picture of the Rose Garden in its infancy.” It’s worth noting that the photo shared was from a different angle and only captures a small section of the garden, where the photo Michael posted was an aerial view. “The Rose Garden is graced with a healthy & colorful blossoming of roses. His misleading information is dishonorable & he should never be trusted as a professional historian,” Melania’s office tweeted. Michael had a snarky response himself, where he tweeted a photo of an ugly patch of grass outside of a shopping complex. “Garden next to office building,” he wrote in what appeared to be a subtweet at Melania and her office.