White House to move forward with real eggs for Easter Egg Roll

The White House tradition of rolling Easter eggs across the South Lawn is expected to proceed this year despite concern over egg prices and strain on supply.

WASHINGTON — The annual White House tradition of rolling Easter eggs across the South Lawn is expected to proceed this year despite concern over egg prices and a strain on supply in recent months due to avian flu, a decision that’s getting mixed reviews from American egg farmers. 

"They were saying that for Easter ‘please don’t use eggs. Could you use plastic eggs?’ I say we don’t want to do that," President Donald Trump said Wednesday in remarks announcing his new tariffs. The White House did not respond to a request for clarification about who was telling him not to use real eggs.

The Easter Egg Roll, scheduled for April 21, will feature 30,000 eggs for White House guests to decorate and use in games, according to the American Egg Board. The industry group has provided the eggs for the event for years, relying on donations from farmers across the country. 

The board had several internal conversations about the optics of providing tens of thousands of eggs for the Easter Egg Roll given the burden egg farmers have faced, according to a person familiar with the planning, but decided to supply the event as usual.

Emily Metz, the president and CEO of the Egg Board, said in a statement that using real eggs this year for rolling along the South Lawn “will not create additional strain on the nation’s egg supply or egg prices.”