Jill Biden pranked her staff, the Secret Service and reporters traveling with her on her plane, dressing as a flight attendant and serving ice cream bars in a disguise so good no one recognized her.
The 69-year-old first lady, famed for her love of pranks and practical jokes, was flying home from California to Washington DC on Thursday.
As food was being served to the press pool, a flight attendant with short black hair wearing a black pants suit, black face mask and a name badge reading Jasmine walked through the staff, Secret Service and press cabins passing out Dove ice cream bars.
A few minutes later her senior advisor, Anthony Bernal, and her press secretary, Michael LaRosa, came back to the press cabin laughing.
Jill Biden is seen landing back at Andrews Air Force Base on Thursday, after her prank
The 69-year-old was delighted at having pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes
Biden then reappeared in the press section, without her wig, and announced: ‘April Fools!’
Bernal and LaRosa reassured the pool they were just as surprised when ‘Jasmine’ revealed her true identity to them.
Biden was ‘visibly pleased with her prank’, the reporters noted.
And it is not the first time that the teacher has set out to raise a smile.
‘I’ve always believed you’ve got to steal the joyful moments when you can,’ she wrote in her memoir, explaining her love of practical jokes.
‘Life is difficult, and if you sit around waiting for fun to show up, you’ll find yourself going without it more often than not.’
Biden poses for photos with volunteers before departing from Meadows Field Airport in Bakersfield, California, on Thursday
Biden waves as she boards the plane, about to pull off her prank
In her book ‘Where the Light Enters: Building a Family, Discovering Myself’, published in May 2019, she tells how she once climbed into the overhead compartment on a plane, and jumped out to surprise people.
‘The White House is a serious place, with serious people, doing serious work,’ Biden wrote.
‘If you’re not careful, it can grind you down.’
She then tells how she pranked the team on her plane on a flight to California, during Barack Obama’s first term.
‘I had arrived at Joint Base Andrews early, coming straight from teaching my classes, and was the first one there,’ she wrote.
‘As I boarded Air Force Two, I looked around and had an idea.
‘The overhead bins were small, but I knew if I scrunched up enough, I could cram myself into one.’
She then climbed up on a chair, before stepping onto a table and pulling herself into the bin.
She said she thought to herself: ‘finally, my ballet barre classes were paying off.’
A naval aide helped give Biden a final boost and pulled the compartment’s door down.
Biden climbed into the overhead bin on a plane to surprise everyone, during Obama’s first term
‘When the first person opened the bin to stow his roller bag, I popped halfway out and screamed, ‘Boo!’ — though it was hard to get it out through my laughter,’ Biden recalled.
‘Still, my surprise had the intended effect: this poor soul let out a high-pitched shriek and stumbled backward into his seat, a look of utter shock on his face.’
She also told of pulling a prank on her husband, on Valentine’s Day in 2009.
She jogged two miles from the vice president’s residence to the White House and, while he was in a meeting, she snuck into his office with the help of his assistant and painted ‘big multicolored hearts all over his windows for Valentine’s Day.’
She wrote: ‘When he walked into the office — accompanied by a senator — later that morning, I wasn’t there to see his reaction, but I know he was both delighted and embarrassed.’