President Donald Trump’s Oval Office redesign has many Americans scratching their heads and rolling their eyes.
After Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States on Jan. 20, 2025, the Republican leader had drastic changes made to the White House’s most famous room.
Newsweek reported in March that Trump, 79, altered the decor of the Oval Office to resemble the lavish interior design of his Trump Tower in New York and Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Doors, walls, and the fireplace were embellished with extravagant gold ornaments. Even the old neutral-colored picture frames in the office were replaced with gilded edges.
The ceiling trim and fireplace mantle also now contain bright embellishments. Gold curtains remained in place from former President Joe Biden’s four-year stint as commander in chief from 2021 to 2025.
As photos of Trump’s newly renovated workspace spread on the internet this week, many social media users first learned about the Queens-born real estate magnate’s alterations.
“He’s destroying the country and the White House,” Democratic political strategist and liberal organizer Adam Parkhomenko, 39, captioned an Instagram picture of Trump walking into his new-look Oval Office.
Parkhomenko pushed for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to run for the presidency in 2016. Clinton won the Democratic nomination but suffered an upset general election loss to Trump by a 304 to 227 margin in the Electoral College.
Many of Parkhomenko’s followers joined in on slamming Trump’s gaudy decorations. For instance, one person sarcastically asked, “What the hell is that?,” While comparing the decorations to a Hobby Lobby project.
“Money can’t buy you taste. But I guess it can buy an election,” a second critic expressed, referring to the reports that billionaire backers, like Tesla CEO Elon Musk, spent millions of dollars to influence the outcome of the 2024 election on behalf of Trump.
“Strangely, the cheap gold ornamentation isn’t the most hideous thing in the photo,” another criticizer wrote about the ex-host of “The Apprentice” reality television show, who managed to defeat then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race to win his second term.
Trump was even accused of shopping at a local Washington, D.C., discount store when a commenter suggested, “He must have bought out every gold-colored piece of junk from Dollar Tree in all of D.C.”
Additionally, someone joked, “Remember when Republicans said [former President Barack Obama] would turn the White House ghetto!!” Yet another offended commenter added, “Tacky. His throne should be delivered any day now.”
Trump’s team has embraced presenting him as a monarch. In February, the official White House account on X tweeted a fake magazine cover featuring the polarizing politician wearing a crown with the words “LONG LIVE THE KING” on the front.
That post by Trump’s team also garnered significant backlash. Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker sent out a tweet that stated, “As Governor of Illinois, my oath is to the Constitution of our state and our nation. We don’t have kings in America, and I won’t bend the knee to one.”
Voters can expect more extreme modifications to the official residence of the POTUS in the coming months. The White House announced a $200 million, 90,000-square-foot state ballroom will be constructed 100 yards from the main building.
The project is set to begin in September 2025, with McCrery Architects creating the design and Clark Construction heading the building effort. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles provided a statement about the forthcoming White House Ballroom.
“President Trump is a builder at heart and has an extraordinary eye for detail,” Wiles said about the founder of The Trump Organization, the private company that is currently fronted by the president’s sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
Wiles resumed, “The President and the Trump White House are fully committed to working with the appropriate organizations to preserving the special history of the White House while building a beautiful ballroom that can be enjoyed by future Administrations and generations of Americans to come.”
Trump also had a section of the 112-year-old White House Rose Garden paved over in order for the grass to be replaced with a concrete patio, igniting condemnation from political traditionalists. The historic landmark was first created by First Lady Ellen Wilson in 1913 before being upgraded in 1962 during President John F. Kennedy’s administration.
Great Job Y. Kyles & the Team @ Atlanta Black Star Source link for sharing this story.
