Hundreds of empty seats spotted at Donald Trump's first White House Christmas tree-lighting ceremony
President leads audience in countdown before First Lady turns on Christmas lights
Images appear to show hundreds of empty seats at Donald Trump’s first annual White House tree lighting ceremony.
The 71-year-old led an audience in a countdown at President’s Park late on Thursday afternoon, before First Lady Melania Trump pressed a button to light up a giant Christmas tree.
But social media users were quick to point out what appeared to be a sparse crowd during the traditional ceremony.
Steve Rudin, a weather forecaster for ABC7 News who was in attendance at the event, shared an image of the crowd size on Twitter.
“The National Tree Lighting ceremony was beautiful this evening - but hard not to notice the empty seats,” he wrote.
Mr Rudin told followers the photo was taken at 5.30pm, before Mr Trump began speaking, but said the seats “did not fill up once the show started”.
“Once the President and First Family arrived, I believe the entire place went on lock-down with very little if any movement from the outside in,” he added.
Some social media users claimed the crowd size appeared smaller than at Barack Obama’s final tree lighting ceremony in 2016.
But some Trump supporters came to the defence of the President. One user said: "Trump's supporters don't live in the Swamp. How hard is that to understand? If he had done the ceremony in Missouri, we would pack the place."
The Independent contacted the Metropolitan DC Police the Public Information Office and the US Park Police, who were all unable to confirm attendance numbers.
Mr Trump, who has taken to calling himself “your favourite President” in recent months, was left furious after images showed the audience at his January inauguration ceremony was far smaller than Mr Obama’s 2008 swearing in.
Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far...
Show all 27
Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far...
1/27 Taking plenty of "Executive Time"
The President's official schedule sets aside the hours from 8 to 11am daily for "Executive Time". Further intermittent periods of "Executive Time" are scheduled throughout any given day, ranging from 15 minutes to 3 hours. His duties in these hours have not been officially disclosed, though Axios reports that he spends them watching TV, reading the newspapers and tweeting
Getty
2/27 Shutdown the government for over a month in an effort to secure funding for his wall
With Mexico declining to pay for the wall, the President has faced difficulty in raising the required $5 billion at home. Due to his demand that the money for the wall be included in the budget, and congress' refusal, the government partially shut down on 22 December 2018. It remained shut for over a month, the longest period in history
Getty
3/27 Joked about the Nazi occupation of France to President Macron
In this tweet on November 13, the President mocks Emmanuel Macron's suggestion of a "true, European army" by invoking the conflict between France and Germany in the world wars
4/27 Coloured in the US flag wrong
The President coloured in the US flag wrongly during a visit to a children's hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He added a blue stripe where in tradition, and statute, there have been only white and red stripes
AFP/Getty
5/27 Railing against the Mueller investigation
The President has repeatedly claimed that the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, is a "rigged witch hunt"
Reuters
6/27 Contradicting a US intelligence report on Russian meddling in the presence of Vladimir Putin
In the press conference that followed his landmark meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr. Trump stated that he saw no reason why Russia would have meddled in the 2016 US election. This contradicted a 2017 report by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence that found evidence of Russian interference in favour of Mr. Trump
Getty
7/27 Contradicting his contradiction of a US intelligence report on Russian meddling
Following furious backlash in the US, the President claimed that he meant to say that he saw no reason why it wouldn't have been Russia who meddled in the 2016 US election. As to why he would have intended to use such bizarre phrasing, he did not comment
Reuters
8/27 Firing a Secretary of State over Twitter
The President announced on Twitter that he was appointing Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, much to the surprise of then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
9/27 Quoting a catchphrase from a reality TV show when discussing police brutality
While addressing the issue of black athletes not standing for the national anthem in protest of police brutality, the President made reference to his catchphrase from reality TV show "The Apprentice": you're fired!
Reuters
10/27 Calling African nations "S***hole Countries"
Ever one for diplomacy, the President reportedly referred to African nations as "s***hole countries". Asked to confirm this when meeting with Nigeria's President Buhari, Mr. Trump stated that there are "some countries that are in very bad shape."
Reuters
11/27 Defending Russian President Vladimir Putin
Donald Trump appeared to equate US foreign actions to those of Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying, “There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?”
Reuters
12/27 Asked for people to 'pray' for Arnold Schwarzenegger
At the National Prayer Breakfast, Donald Trump couldn’t help but to ask for prayers for the ratings on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s show to be good. Schwarzenegger took over as host of “The Apprentice” — which buoyed Mr Trump’s celebrity status years ago
Getty
13/27 Hanging up on Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull
Early in his presidency, Donald Trump reportedly hung up the phone on Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull after the foreign leader angered him over refugee plans. Mr Trump later said that it was the “worst call” he had had so far
Getty
14/27 The 'Muslim ban'
Perhaps one of his most controversial policies while acting as president, Donald Trump’s travel ban targeting predominantly Muslim countries has bought him a lot of criticism. The bans were immediately protested, and judges initially blocked their implementation. The Supreme Court later sided with the administration’s argument that the ban was developed out of concern for US security
Getty
15/27 Praising crowd size while touring Hurricane Harvey damage
After Hurricane Harvey ravaged southeastern Texas, Donald Trump paid the area a visit. While his response to the disaster in Houston was generally applauded, the President picked up some flack when he gave a speech outside Houston (he reportedly did not visit disaster zones), and praised the size of the crowds there
AP
16/27 Calling North Korean leader Kim Jong-un 'Little Rocket Man'
During his first-ever speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Donald Trump tried out a new nickname for North Korea leader Kim Jong-un: Rocket Man. He later tweaked it to be “little Rocket Man” as the two feuded, and threatened each other with nuclear war. During that speech, he also threatened to totally annihilate North Korea
17/27 Attacking Sadiq Khan following London Bridge terror attack
After the attack on the London Bridge, Donald Trump lashed out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, criticizing Mr Khan for saying there was “no reason to be alarmed” after the attack. Mr Trump was taking the comments out of context, as Mr Khan was simply saying that the police had everything under control
Getty
18/27 Claimed presenter Mika Brezinkski was 'bleeding from the face'
Never one not to mock his enemies, Donald Trump mocked MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski, saying that she and co-host Joe Scarborough had approached him before his inauguration asking to “join” him. He noted that she was “bleeding badly from a face-lift” at the time, and that he said no
MSNBC
19/27 Claiming the blame for Charlottesville was on 'both sides'
Trump refused to condemn far-right extremists involved in violence at 'the march for the right' protests in Charlottesville, even after the murder of counter protester Heather Heyer
AP
20/27 Retweeted cartoon of CNN being hit by a 'Trump train'
Donald Trump retweeted a cartoon showing a Trump-branded train running over a person whose body and head were replaced by a CNN avatar. He later deleted the retweet
21/27 Tweeting about 'slamming' CNN
Donald Trump caught some flack when he tweeted a video showing him wrestling down an individual whose head had been replaced by a CNN avatar. Mr Trump has singled CNN out in particular with his chants of “fake news”
22/27 Firing head of the FBI, James Comey
Donald Trump’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey landed him with a federal investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election that has caused many a headache for the White House. The White House initially said that the decision was made after consultation from the Justice Department. Then Mr Trump himself said that he had decided to fire him in part because he wanted the Russia investigation Mr Comey was conducting to stop
Getty
23/27 Not realising being president would be 'hard'
Just three months into his presidency, Donald Trump admitted that being president is harder than he thought it would be. Though Mr Trump insisted on the 2016 campaign trail that doing the job would be easy for him, he admitted in an interview that living in the White House is harder than running a business empire
Reuters
24/27 Accusing Obama of wiretapping him
Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama of wire tapping him on twitter. The Justice Department later clarified: Mr Obama had not, in fact, done so
Reuters
25/27 Claiming there had been 3 million 'illegal votes'
Donald Trump was never very happy about losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2.8 million ballots. So, he and White House voter-fraud commissioner Kris Kobach have claimed that anywhere between three and five million people voted illegally during the 2016 election. Conveniently, he says that all of those illegal votes went to Ms Clinton. (There is no evidence to support that level of widespread voter fraud.)
26/27 Leaving Jews out of the Holocaust memorial statement
Just days after taking office, Donald Trump’s White House issued a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but didn’t mention “jews” or even the word “jewish” in the written statement
Getty
27/27 Anger over Inauguration crowd size
Donald Trump’s inauguration crowd was visibly, and noticeably, smaller than that of his predecessor, Barack Obama. But, he really wanted to have had the largest crowd on record. So, he praised it as the biggest crowd ever.
Relatedly, Mr Trump also claimed that it stopped raining in Washington at the moment he was inaugurated. It didn’t, the day was very dreary
Reuters
1/27 Taking plenty of "Executive Time"
The President's official schedule sets aside the hours from 8 to 11am daily for "Executive Time". Further intermittent periods of "Executive Time" are scheduled throughout any given day, ranging from 15 minutes to 3 hours. His duties in these hours have not been officially disclosed, though Axios reports that he spends them watching TV, reading the newspapers and tweeting
Getty
2/27 Shutdown the government for over a month in an effort to secure funding for his wall
With Mexico declining to pay for the wall, the President has faced difficulty in raising the required $5 billion at home. Due to his demand that the money for the wall be included in the budget, and congress' refusal, the government partially shut down on 22 December 2018. It remained shut for over a month, the longest period in history
Getty
3/27 Joked about the Nazi occupation of France to President Macron
In this tweet on November 13, the President mocks Emmanuel Macron's suggestion of a "true, European army" by invoking the conflict between France and Germany in the world wars
4/27 Coloured in the US flag wrong
The President coloured in the US flag wrongly during a visit to a children's hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He added a blue stripe where in tradition, and statute, there have been only white and red stripes
AFP/Getty
5/27 Railing against the Mueller investigation
The President has repeatedly claimed that the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, is a "rigged witch hunt"
Reuters
6/27 Contradicting a US intelligence report on Russian meddling in the presence of Vladimir Putin
In the press conference that followed his landmark meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr. Trump stated that he saw no reason why Russia would have meddled in the 2016 US election. This contradicted a 2017 report by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence that found evidence of Russian interference in favour of Mr. Trump
Getty
7/27 Contradicting his contradiction of a US intelligence report on Russian meddling
Following furious backlash in the US, the President claimed that he meant to say that he saw no reason why it wouldn't have been Russia who meddled in the 2016 US election. As to why he would have intended to use such bizarre phrasing, he did not comment
Reuters
8/27 Firing a Secretary of State over Twitter
The President announced on Twitter that he was appointing Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, much to the surprise of then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
9/27 Quoting a catchphrase from a reality TV show when discussing police brutality
While addressing the issue of black athletes not standing for the national anthem in protest of police brutality, the President made reference to his catchphrase from reality TV show "The Apprentice": you're fired!
Reuters
10/27 Calling African nations "S***hole Countries"
Ever one for diplomacy, the President reportedly referred to African nations as "s***hole countries". Asked to confirm this when meeting with Nigeria's President Buhari, Mr. Trump stated that there are "some countries that are in very bad shape."
Reuters
11/27 Defending Russian President Vladimir Putin
Donald Trump appeared to equate US foreign actions to those of Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying, “There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?”
Reuters
12/27 Asked for people to 'pray' for Arnold Schwarzenegger
At the National Prayer Breakfast, Donald Trump couldn’t help but to ask for prayers for the ratings on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s show to be good. Schwarzenegger took over as host of “The Apprentice” — which buoyed Mr Trump’s celebrity status years ago
Getty
13/27 Hanging up on Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull
Early in his presidency, Donald Trump reportedly hung up the phone on Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull after the foreign leader angered him over refugee plans. Mr Trump later said that it was the “worst call” he had had so far
Getty
14/27 The 'Muslim ban'
Perhaps one of his most controversial policies while acting as president, Donald Trump’s travel ban targeting predominantly Muslim countries has bought him a lot of criticism. The bans were immediately protested, and judges initially blocked their implementation. The Supreme Court later sided with the administration’s argument that the ban was developed out of concern for US security
Getty
15/27 Praising crowd size while touring Hurricane Harvey damage
After Hurricane Harvey ravaged southeastern Texas, Donald Trump paid the area a visit. While his response to the disaster in Houston was generally applauded, the President picked up some flack when he gave a speech outside Houston (he reportedly did not visit disaster zones), and praised the size of the crowds there
AP
16/27 Calling North Korean leader Kim Jong-un 'Little Rocket Man'
During his first-ever speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Donald Trump tried out a new nickname for North Korea leader Kim Jong-un: Rocket Man. He later tweaked it to be “little Rocket Man” as the two feuded, and threatened each other with nuclear war. During that speech, he also threatened to totally annihilate North Korea
17/27 Attacking Sadiq Khan following London Bridge terror attack
After the attack on the London Bridge, Donald Trump lashed out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, criticizing Mr Khan for saying there was “no reason to be alarmed” after the attack. Mr Trump was taking the comments out of context, as Mr Khan was simply saying that the police had everything under control
Getty
18/27 Claimed presenter Mika Brezinkski was 'bleeding from the face'
Never one not to mock his enemies, Donald Trump mocked MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski, saying that she and co-host Joe Scarborough had approached him before his inauguration asking to “join” him. He noted that she was “bleeding badly from a face-lift” at the time, and that he said no
MSNBC
19/27 Claiming the blame for Charlottesville was on 'both sides'
Trump refused to condemn far-right extremists involved in violence at 'the march for the right' protests in Charlottesville, even after the murder of counter protester Heather Heyer
AP
20/27 Retweeted cartoon of CNN being hit by a 'Trump train'
Donald Trump retweeted a cartoon showing a Trump-branded train running over a person whose body and head were replaced by a CNN avatar. He later deleted the retweet
21/27 Tweeting about 'slamming' CNN
Donald Trump caught some flack when he tweeted a video showing him wrestling down an individual whose head had been replaced by a CNN avatar. Mr Trump has singled CNN out in particular with his chants of “fake news”
22/27 Firing head of the FBI, James Comey
Donald Trump’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey landed him with a federal investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election that has caused many a headache for the White House. The White House initially said that the decision was made after consultation from the Justice Department. Then Mr Trump himself said that he had decided to fire him in part because he wanted the Russia investigation Mr Comey was conducting to stop
Getty
23/27 Not realising being president would be 'hard'
Just three months into his presidency, Donald Trump admitted that being president is harder than he thought it would be. Though Mr Trump insisted on the 2016 campaign trail that doing the job would be easy for him, he admitted in an interview that living in the White House is harder than running a business empire
Reuters
24/27 Accusing Obama of wiretapping him
Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama of wire tapping him on twitter. The Justice Department later clarified: Mr Obama had not, in fact, done so
Reuters
25/27 Claiming there had been 3 million 'illegal votes'
Donald Trump was never very happy about losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2.8 million ballots. So, he and White House voter-fraud commissioner Kris Kobach have claimed that anywhere between three and five million people voted illegally during the 2016 election. Conveniently, he says that all of those illegal votes went to Ms Clinton. (There is no evidence to support that level of widespread voter fraud.)
26/27 Leaving Jews out of the Holocaust memorial statement
Just days after taking office, Donald Trump’s White House issued a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but didn’t mention “jews” or even the word “jewish” in the written statement
Getty
27/27 Anger over Inauguration crowd size
Donald Trump’s inauguration crowd was visibly, and noticeably, smaller than that of his predecessor, Barack Obama. But, he really wanted to have had the largest crowd on record. So, he praised it as the biggest crowd ever.
Relatedly, Mr Trump also claimed that it stopped raining in Washington at the moment he was inaugurated. It didn’t, the day was very dreary
Reuters
Claiming the media reports were an effort to “demean” him, he said: “We had a massive crowd of people. We had a crowd… I looked over that sea of people, and I said to myself, ‘wow’, and I’ve seen crowds before.
“Big, big crowds. That was some crowd.”
The White House has been contacted for comment.
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