Trump White House to host Passover seder

April 10, 2017

The White House will host a Passover seder on Monday night, continuing a tradition that began under former President Obama.

A White House spokesperson was unable to confirm details about the holiday dinner, including whether President Trump would attend.

The seder does not appear on Trump’s public schedule for Monday.

Obama hosted his first seder at the White House in 2009 in the Old Family Dining Room.

The tradition began the prior year, when three junior aides gathered for a seder during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania. Then-candidate Obama surprised the group by joining in the dinner in the basement of the Sheraton Hotel in Harrisburg.

The seder could be an opportunity for other Jewish staff members in the Trump White House to mark the Passover holiday, which celebrates the ancient Israelites’ freedom from slavery in Egypt.

Trump’s elder daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, both practice Judaism. Other Jewish members of Trump’s inner circle include National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and senior adviser Stephen Miller.

The Passover holiday begins at sundown Monday, when Jews around the world will gather for a seder, which includes symbolic foods and a retelling of the story of the Jews’ exodus from Egypt.