While serving as our nation's first lady, Melania Trump received the harshest of criticism over just about everything, but though her Christmas decorations tended to draw particular ire from the left, in retrospect, many have come to see the merit in her choices, as Business Insider suggests.

Perhaps it is the controversy recently stoked by current first lady Jill Biden's unconventional holiday offerings that has put Mrs. Trump's efforts in a new, more positive light, but it now appears that even her most ardent detractors are seeing things with fresh eyes.

A look back

The Insider's Madison Hall took a walk down memory lane, analyzing Melania Trump's Christmas décor for each of the years her husband occupied the Oval Office.

Though clearly no fan of the former first lady, Hall grudgingly admitted that, in fact, Mrs. Trump had an admirable flair for the selections she made.

Hall recounted some of the more biting headlines from Trump Christmases past, which included, “Melania's Christmases, Ranked from Most to Least Haunted” and “There's no comfort & joy in Melania Trump's bleak and impersonal Christmas décor.”

Even so, Hall added, “While her decorations were a bit atypical than those of past years, I think it's reasonable to say years later that they weren't all that bad.”

“Though it seems she may have detested the task, Melania ultimately put creative spins on the White House's typical, traditional holiday decorations that were, well...unique,” Hall mused. “And not necessarily in a bad way.”

Breaking down the years

Though Mrs. Trump's 2018 display, marked by crimson trees lining the East Colonnade, engendered boisterous disapproval from many on the left, Hall suggested that while the look may not have been her crowning achievement, “the trees themselves were neat because they were atypical in color... .”

Hall also praised Mrs. Trump's 2019 design, in which conventional trees were removed in favor of acrylic panels featuring national landmarks meant to chronicle “American design, innovation, and architecture.”

“Clean in appearance, a unique idea, and highlighting the nation's history in a cool way: What's not to like about this look?” Hall asked.

Stark comparisons emerge

While the merit of Mrs. Trump's designs stands on its own, it could be that Hall's assessment has been significantly influenced by Jill Biden's arguably garish and bizarre display for Christmas 2023.

As OK! noted, Mrs. Biden festooned the people's house with garish accouterments through which a BLM-supporting performance troupe, Dorrance Dance, gave an unusual interpretation of The Nutcracker Suite.

The distinctions between Mrs. Biden's aesthetic and Mrs. Trump's were clear to many online commentators, with one poster angrily writing, “How utterly tacky, tasteless and ANTI Christmas” the former's display was, while the latter's was described as “tasteful, seasonal” and “breathtaking and gorgeous.”

Another poster noted, “Melania's decorations and Christmas celebration to America was classy and breathtaking while Jill Biden turned the White House Christmas into a cheap, drag queen burlesque show,” an assessment with which even those not predisposed to support Mrs. Trump have come to agree.