Dec. 4, 2025Updated Dec. 5, 2025, 12:04 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON, DC — President Donald Trump honored two members of the National Guard who were shot last week on patrol near the White House as he and first lady Melania Trump continued the more than a century-old tradition of lighting the National Christmas Tree.
National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom died after the attack. Trump said he met with the parents of surviving Guard member Andrew Wolfe.
“Andrew is getting better. Sarah, unfortunately, is watching from a high, watching from heaven,” Trump said Dec. 4, adding: “I just want to pay my respects to them, two incredible people, unbelievable people. I spoke with the parents and met with the parents today,” he said. “The parents of Andrew.”
The tree lighting ceremony included performances by the Beach Boys, Alana Springsteen, Brett Young, and other musicians.
“It is beautiful. Not too cold. There’s no wind. We don’t have to wear hats or anything,” Trump said of the 30-degree weather.
Making light of his 2020 election loss, which saw him leave the White House for four years before returning in January, Trump said that if it weren’t for that outcome, he wouldn’t be president as America celebrates 250 years of independence next year.
“I’m so happy that our presidency was delayed. Otherwise, I’d be sitting home watching television, not being invited, I would be extremely upset,” Trump said, repeating baseless claims that the vote was “rigged.”
Trump later said he loves all U.S. citizens. “Whether you like them or not, we love them all, we want to take care of everybody, we have to take everybody in our country,” Trump said.
LED lights, smaller trees, and student ornaments
The Dec. 4 tree lighting ceremony on the Ellipse was the 103rd such event, which dates to former President Calvin Coolidge, who presided over the lighting of a 48-foot Balsam fir from Vermont, his home state, in 1923.
The 2025 tree is a 32-foot red spruce that grew in the mountains of Highland County, Virginia. It was selected by a ranger district in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, according to the National Park Service.
The tree has more than 80,000 LED lights and is surrounded by 59 smaller trees donated by a North Carolina tree farm that represent every U.S. state, territory, the District of Columbia, the Bureau of Indian Education, Department of Defense schools, and America250. They are hung with ornaments created by students.
One of Florida’s ornaments features a beach scene, while one of Alaska’s features a moose. An Indiana ornament has a race car.
The National Christmas Tree display runs from Dec. 6 to Jan. 1 and is free for visitors. It is open every day from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
