At White House Easter Egg Roll, Trump talks bomb threats and bunnies

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump doubled down on threats to bomb Iranian power plants as children in suits and pastel dresses frolicked in front of him during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.

Standing next to first lady Melania Trump and a costumed Easter Bunny on the White House's South Lawn, Trump rejected concerns that bombing Iran’s power plants and bridges would constitute a war crime and stood by his expletive-filled social media threat to bomb the country’s critical infrastructure Tuesday if it did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

"I'm not worried about it," Trump told a reporter at the event Monday, April 6. "You know what's a war crime? Having a nuclear weapon. Allowing a sick country with demented leadership to have a nuclear weapons, that's a war crime."

Earlier in the morning, he described Easter Monday as a day to celebrate "Jesus" and "religion."

Behind the president, the United States Marine Band, dressed in red regalia, performed patriotic songs including "God Bless America." White and green flowers dangled from the White House South Portico. A plaid red, white and blue wrapping covered the building's columns.

This year’s event was themed around the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Little girls in flowing sundresses and little boys sporting colorful bow ties pranced along the South Lawn surrounded by white picket fences. The children used wooden spoons to push eggs – dyed red, white and blue in honor of the country’s birthday – down the grassy slope.

Asked about her Easter message to children in war-torn regions, the first lady said she was hoping for future peace. Trump said children were a focus of the war in Iran, which began Feb. 28 when the United States launched airstrikes against Iran’s military infrastructure.

One of the sites bombed that day was an Iranian elementary school. The strike killed 175 people, most of them children.

"We’re fighting for children that are now in a war zone," Trump said. "We’re fighting for them, we’re fighting for their future."

The president and first lady blew whistles to commence some of the egg races. "Are you ready?" Trump asked the children, smiling. "I wish I could do my hair like that," he quipped to one little girl.

Chants of "four more years" broke out among spectators milling along the South Lawn. Booths toward the back of the lawn gave children opportunities to send messages to American troops, blow bubbles and listen to administration officials read picture books.

The White House Easter Egg Roll dates back to the 1870s, when President Rutherford B. Hayes opened the grounds to children on Easter Monday to children wishing to roll eggs. The tradition has endured for more than a century.

From egg shortage to high gas prices

Ditching his quintessential red tie for a stripped pastel blue one, Trump during the Easter festivities celebrated the reduction in egg prices over the last year. He said the White House had more than 40,000 eggs at the 2026 Easter Egg Roll, 10,000 more than the year prior.

Retail egg prices hit highs in 2025 as farmers and egg suppliers were impacted by the bird flu crisis. Those prices have dropped significantly over the last year.

This year, the president has a different cost crisis on his hands. Amid the war in Iran, the price of gasoline has skyrocketed across the country. Trump said if it were up to him, he’d seize Iran’s oil, though he acknowledged that Americans want the war to end swiftly.

Recent polls have shown a majority of Americans do not support the war in Iran. A Reuters/Ipsos survey published April 1 found 60% of Americans disapproved of United States military ​strikes on Iran.

"Unfortunately, the American people would like to see us come home. If it were up to me I'd take the oil, I'd keep the oil and would make plenty of money," Trump said.