With $75K you get Egg Roll

The news that the White House is soliciting corporate sponsors for the annual Easter Egg Roll should come as no surprise. Surely by now we must all be shockproof. Yet there'sstill something disturbing and nauseating, about selling out what has been a nearly 150 year old tradition - the oldest annual WH tradition. And event that is supposed to be such a (theoretically, at least) joyous, politics-aside occasion.  

The White House is working with an event production company named Harbinger (BOLO: some connection to Trump cronies) to run the event and flog sponsorships. 

There are packages running from $75K to $200K that let sponsors do stuff like put up a trade show booth (at least that's what I think a 10x10, 20x20, or 30x30 "branded activation" is), distribute branded swag, get a WH tour, rub shoulders with the WH press corps (maybe you get to meet a right-wing podcaster!), and brunch with FLOTUS.

Brunch with FLOTUS? What a treat! In the kinder, gentler Trump I era, Melania was complaining about Xmas-related tasks and famously asked "who gives a fuck about the Christmas-related stuff?" Maybe she feels differently about the Easter-related stuff. Or maybe this is one of the appearances that's part of her Trump II contract.

Sponsors also get some tickets. While my understanding is that pols and staff traditionally get tickets for their kiddos, tickets are also available via lottery for free. Wonder if the sponsorship tickets cut into the pol supply or the general public lottery allocation. What do you think?

One of the benefits that Harbinger touts: 

By partnering with this historic tradition, sponsors can engagewith diverse audiences,showcase their commitment to community and education, and align with a beloved American event. (Source: Event brochure linked to the NY Times article.)

Diverse audience? But but, but...isn't diversity way, way, way out? Hasn't anything and everything with the D-word in it (or words that are DEI-adjacent) been purged from all government documents and operations? And purged from the vocabulary and way-of-doing-business of any and all organizations (corporations, law firms, universities, museums...) that Trump can manage to bully and frighten into compliance with his whims.

By the way, the Easter Egg Roll is run by the White House Historical Association, a private non-profit org started by Jackie Kennedy. You remember Jackie Kennedy. She's the one who redesigned and spruced up the Rose Garden, which Trump is planning on paving over so it looks like Mar A Lago. Or something. 

The Egg Roll:

...is largely held without taxpayer dollars, with the American Egg Board, a marketing group for the egg industry, sponsoring thousands of eggs for the event — but without the kind of visibility laid out by Harbinger’s guide. (Source: NY Times)

So the good news is that the money will not be going directly into lining the pockets of the Grifter in Chief. Not that GiC would ever line his own linty pockets.

Federal regulations prohibit government employees from using their public office for private gain. Richard W. Painter, who served as chief ethics lawyer in the White House Counsel’s Office under President George W. Bush, said that the White House was clearly breaking that code by allowing private enterprises to use an official event to showcase their brands and letting the proceeds flow into a private nonprofit.

Phew. So glad there are Federal regulations in place. If not, there'd be tawdry things like turning the White House into a Tesla dealdership. Or selling their own cryptocurrency (POTUS) or memecoins (FLOTUS). Imagine if any of that had happened. 

Mr. Painter said that some in Mr. Trump’s White House have argued that the ethics laws technically do not apply to the president, but most presidents have complied with some sort of ethical guidelines since President Richard M. Nixon resigned in 1974.

I realize that, given all the depraved, moronic, corrupt, and frightening things Trump's been up to since noon on January 20, 2025, selling corporate sponsorships to the annual White House Easter Egg Roll is the least of it. Yet it's so emblematic of this malign administration. I'm not all that big on the sacred, but lordy-lord, this is so colossally profane. 

If Trump had any shame (hah!), there'd be egg on his face. Instead, he's just once more demonstrating what a rotten egg he is. 

Happy Easter, anyway.