US First Lady Melania Trump skipped the traditional press preview of the White House Christmas decorations, tweeting out a 56-second video of herself wandering through the rooms. Her spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham on Monday said Trump decided "to let the decorations speak for themselves."

Members of the media were invited on a brisk 30-minute self-guided tour through the holiday wonderland of more than 20,000 feet of lights and 12,000 bows, put up over the past few days with the help of 225 volunteers. The theme this year is "American Treasures". The colour red was big, appearing in a dramatic forest of 40 towering crimson topiary trees in the East Colonnade and on 14,000 ornaments in the Grand Foyer and Cross Hall.