Editor’s Note: This story says almost nothing about chips, tariffs, trade wars or China.
A few things appear to be normal at the Trump White House. Or at least on the White House grounds.
After a tumultuous start to his second term as president filled with tariffs that have alarmed much of the world and especially the electronics industry and China, President Trump on April 7 oversaw the removal of the 200-year-old Jackson Magnolia tree and participated in the planting of a magnolia sapling, a descendant of the original tree.
The original southern magnolia was considered a dangerous safety hazard by arborists and officials at the National Park Service, which oversees the White House grounds. It had grown tall enough to reach the second story windows of the White House on the west side of the South Portico. Oral history holds it and a second magnolia were planted by President Andrew Jackson, seventh US president from 1829 to 1837. Jackon reportedly used seeds he brought to Washington from the Hermitage, his home near Nashville.
The departed tree was preserved through the years, including with a tall support pillar, but “its condition declined beyond recovery,” according to the White House. In a symbol of their resiliency, the base of the two magnolia trees took the brunt of a Cessna airplane crash which targeted the White House in September 1994.
The NPS was ready for the removal for years and had prepared a cutting from the parent Jackson Magnolia that is already 12 years old.
The White House rebranded the sapling as “MAGAnolia” in a social media post.
President Trump stated the wood from the deceased Jackson Magnolia will be preserved by White House staff and “may be used for other high and noble purposes.”
Perhaps a gift for China--a MAGAnolia-olive branch?