Unlikely Pick For White House Christmas Tree Arrives Friday

Heather Curtis
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON (WMAL) – Friday the White House will get a very special delivery: the Christmas tree that will go on display in the Blue Room.

You would expect only the most perfect tree to adorn the White House, but the 19 1/2-foot-tall Fraser fir arriving Friday is anything but according to the farmer who grew it, Larry Smith with Mountain Top Fraser Fir in North Carolina.

Smith said the tree was in a location without a lot of light, and he abandoned it and stopped trimming it years ago. He planned to cut it down and turn it into garland, but fate had another plan for the tree.

Smith said he and his son had tagged the trees that met the specifications, and then made a last-minute decision to let the White House officials look at this one too. It turns out the green color and straight trunk appealed to them, Smith said. Monday they announced they had chosen it to grace the Blue Room.

“I told them it’s sort of like the Cinderella story,” Smith said.

When they asked what he thought about the selection, Smith said he didn’t want that decision on him.

“When they stand it up in the Blue Room, I don’t want to take the blame if it’s the wrong tree,” Smith said.

Even though it wasn’t his top pick, Smith said growing Christmas trees is his passion, and getting one in the White House has been a long-time goal. His farm was chosen for the honor after Smith won the National Christmas Tree Association’s contest in Wisconsin.

After the tree was selected Monday it was chopped down Wednesday, packed up, and shipped out.

Smith won’t be there when it arrives Friday because it’s his busy season, but he and his family will travel to D.C. Sunday and formally present the tree to First Lady Melania Trump Monday.