In this image made from video, the National Christmas Tree hangs from a crane in front of the White House as a crew works to lift it back up after it fell, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, amid high winter winds. (AP Video)
By Ashraf Khalil
The National Christmas Tree in front of the White House fell down during high winds but later was hoisted back upright, and its lighting ceremony will go ahead as scheduled.
The tree, a 40-foot-tall (12-meter-tall) Norway spruce from West Virginia's Monongahela National Forest, had been planted just two weeks ago on the White House Ellipse, an area known as President's Park. According to the National Park Service, it fell over around 1 p.m. Tuesday during heavy wind gusts that reached as high at 46 mph (74 km/h) at nearby Reagan National Airport.
NPS spokeswoman Jasmine Shanti said in an email that after “replacing a snapped cable,” the tree was back upright by 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The lighting of the tree is an annual White House holiday tradition with a countdown and musical performances. This year's tree is a new one, replacing an older tree that, according to the NPS, developed a fungal disease known as needle cast, which caused its needles to turn brown and fall off.
None of the 58 smaller trees that surround the National Christmas Tree was damaged. About 20 ornaments fell from the tree but did not break. The NPS announced Wednesday that crews are “installing concrete blocks and additional cables to further secure the tree.”
The annual tree-lighting ceremony will take place as scheduled Thursday at 6 p.m., the NPS said, with musical performances featuring Dionne Warwick and St. Vincent.
Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.
Jenna Ellis, an attorney and prominent conservative media figure, reached a deal with prosecutors Tuesday and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge over efforts to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia.
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez returns to court Monday to enter an expected not guilty plea to a conspiracy charge alleging he acted as an agent of the Egyptian government when he chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Hamas militants on Friday freed two Americans -- a mother and her teenage daughter who had been held hostage in Gaza since militants rampaged through Israel two weeks ago, the Israeli government said.
A Texas judge has ruled that Infowars host Alex Jones cannot use bankruptcy protection to avoid paying more than $1.1 billion to families who sued over his conspiracy theories that the Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax.
Former President Donald Trump was fined $5,000 on Friday after a disparaging social media post about a key court staffer in his New York civil fraud case was allowed to linger on his campaign website after the judge ordered it deleted.
