President Trump and first lady Melania release 2018 White House Christmas portrait

Maria Puente

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump posed for their 2018 official White House Christmas portrait in a hall crowded with green Christmas trees laden with red ornaments.

The photo, by official Trump White House photographer Andrea Hanks, shows POTUS and FLOTUS holding hands, standing surrounded by conventionally green trees – not the blood-red conical trees designed by the first lady that inspired a Twitter kerfuffle a few weeks ago.

Judging from the first lady's sleek white turtleneck gown by Celine, the photo was taken in the Cross Hall during the annual Congressional Ball at the White House Saturday night.

The Twitter accounts of both Trumps featured the picture.

"Merry Christmas from President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. @POTUS & @FLOTUS are seen Saturday, December 15, in their official 2018 Christmas portrait, in the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks)," Melania Trump's tweet said.

He retweeted her.

The White House holiday decorations, designed by the first lady, have been a target of mocking on Twitter for the second year in a row.

This year, a line of fiery red cone trees in the East Colonnade evoked reminders of costumes in "The Handmaid's Tale," according to critics on Twitter.

Trump defended them, saying they "looked fantastic," and mocked the media for reporting what the critics said about them.

Last year, her design featured an icy white theme, with Balsam fir trees hung with “icicles” and trimmed with glass ornaments.

For the dramatic unveiling, the first lady posed in a white dress in the Grand Foyer surrounded by huge white pots of towering fir branches sprayed white and arching over her head.

First lady Melania Trump in the East Colonnade decorated in white branches for the 2017 holiday decorations at the White House, Nov. 27, 2017.
First lady Melania Trump in the East Colonnade decorated in white branches for the 2017 holiday decorations at the White House, Nov. 27, 2017.

"Why do the White House Christmas decorations look like Voldemort is about to come back?" asked one tweet.

"The White House's Christmas Decor Looks Straight Out of a Horror Film," claimed the headline on a Gizmodo story.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: President Trump and first lady Melania release 2018 White House Christmas portrait