There is something ironic about the fact that a grand White House Magnolia tree planted during Andrew Jackson’s administration is going to come down during the administration of the most Jacksonian president since Old Hickory. (By the way, if Jackson was “Old Hickory,” maybe we should call Trump “Old Spice”? It fits in some ways, if you think about it. . .) Rim-shot!

Anyway, what isn’t ironic at all is the many news headlines what convey the impression that Cruella de Ville Melania Trump has ordered the felling of the mighty Magnolia in a fit of forrecidal rage, when in fact arborists have concluded that the tree is fatally weakened and in danger of falling at any moment. But here’s now Newsweek represented it:

Not to be left behind, for some reason CNN thinks they have an “exclusive” on this totally non-exclusive story:

The Hill jumped on the Mean-Melania bandwagon, too:

What—is Melania herself going to wield the ax? Please put that on pay-per-view.

Even the usually reliable Daily Mail goes with demagoguery:

You have to read way down in the (often corrected or amended) stories to learn that this has been on the minds of White House arborists for some time, such that they have been cultivating cuttings from the tree—some of them already 10 feet tall—that will replace the old one.

And people wonder why Trump repairs to “fake news” so often.

Memo to Newsweek—take your own advice:

Yeah, after all it’s not like Melania or Donald Trump are William Gladstone or something.