Flanked by the first lady and a pink-eared bunny rabbit, President Trump presided on Monday over the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. But even amid the festivities, the war in Iran — and one of his most frequent targets, Joseph R. Biden Jr. — were never far from his mind.
From the south portico of the White House, Mr. Trump spoke about the successful mission to find an Air Force officer whose jet had been shot down in Iran.
“What about the rescue that took place yesterday?” Mr. Trump said.
After he descended the steps to join the festivities, he detoured to speak with a group of reporters about the war, now in its sixth week.
The Easter Bunny kept its distance.
“We’re never going to let them have a nuclear weapon,” Mr. Trump said, squinting in the sunshine. “If we have to pay a little extra for fuel for a couple of months, we’ll do that — but we’re never going to allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon because this beautiful White House wouldn’t look so good.”
He returned to the festivities to referee the Easter egg roll, at which point the Easter Bunny quickly reappeared at his side.
Mr. Trump turned his attention to mingling with his family members, staff and members of Congress, who eagerly greeted him with their children and babies in tow.
He socialized for some minutes, then joined the first lady, Melania Trump, to chat with elementary-school-aged children writing cards to members of the military. Squeezed onto a bench between a young boy and young girl, the president was captured on camera criticizing his predecessor, Mr. Biden.
“You know, Biden would use the autopen,” Mr. Trump said, referring to a typically uncontroversial method of affixing a presidential signature, which Mr. Trump has seized upon to criticize the former president. “He was incapable of signing his name.”
One child interjected, “What?”
Later, in the Rose Garden, Mrs. Trump read the classic children’s book, “The Runaway Bunny,” about a mother bunny who tells her son she will follow him if he runs away.
“It’s a beautiful story,” Mrs. Trump said, telling the children that all mothers could relate to the love the mother bunny felt for her baby.
But after about a half-hour, which included a bunny hop, cookie decorating and mini golf, the president made his way back to the reporters crowded on the periphery of the lawn. He talked there about the dangers of deploying American troops on the ground in Iran and reiterated that he could not allow the country to have a nuclear weapon.
As he spoke, just feet behind him, were half-dozen young children dressed in their Easter finest.
Aishvarya Kavi works in the Washington bureau of The Times, helping to cover a variety of political and national news.
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