WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump pledged to a child attending the White House Easter Egg Roll festivities on Monday, April 22, that he would keep up his work on the southern border wall.
“I will. Oh, it’s happening. It’s being built now,” Trump told the child.
He made the remarks while sitting at a table with kids coloring Easter cards for U.S. troops.
“Here’s a young guy who just said, ‘Keep building that wall.’ Can you believe that? He’s going to be a conservative some day,” Trump said.
Trump has long campaigned on securing the Southern border with Mexico and building a wall.
Congress approved just under $1.4 billion for work on border barricades but Trump has asserted he can use his powers as chief executive to transfer another $6.7 billion to wall construction.
Trump kicked off the annual Easter Egg Roll—the White House’s biggest social event of the year.
“I want to wish everybody a very happy Easter,” Trump said, addressing the crowd from the Truman Balcony, where he was joined by first lady Melania Trump and a bespectacled bunny character.
He also talked about his administration’s investments in the military, saying, “it is being rebuilt to a level we have never seen before.”
Trump later blew a whistle that began an egg roll on the South Lawn—one of many activities organized for the 30,000 adults and children who will stream through the gates all day.
The main event is the traditional rolling of hard-boiled eggs across the lawn, but the first lady has announced two new additions to the lineup of festivities: musical eggs and a game of hopscotch named for her “Be Best” children’s initiative.
There’s also a nook where Mrs. Trump and other officials read storybooks and a station for kids to make greeting cards to send to U.S. troops.
The White House Easter Egg Roll dates to 1878.
By Darlene Superville
