Gold Everywhere: See How Donald Trump Has Blinged Out the Oval Office

 

Gold Everywhere: See How Donald Trump Has Blinged Out the Oval Office

 

Published Mar 17, 2025 at 1:20 PM EDT

Updated Mar 17, 2025 at 4:39 PM EDT

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-oval-office-gold-2045930

By Jesus Mesa

Politics Reporter

 

President Donald Trump has transformed the traditionally minimalist Oval Office into a setting that reflects his personal brand—ornate, lavish and filled with gold flourishes. From the fireplace mantle to the side tables, the iconic space has taken on a distinctly Trumpian look, echoing the interiors of his signature Trump Tower in New York and his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

 

Whereas former President Joe Biden opted to spread his fewer public events around the White House grounds — from the East Room to the Rose Garden to the traditional Oval Office setting — President Trump has been using the "Oval" as the backdrop for media availabilities and working meetings at least several times a week and sometimes hosting multiple events there a day.

 

And while it is not uncommon for a new president to redecorate the Oval, photos taken by the press during those events — and compared to images from prior administrations — suggest Trump has made some of the most extensive changes to the room's appearance in modern presidential history, adding gold vermeil figurines to the mantle, gold medallions affixed to the fireplace, gilded Rococo mirrors over the doors and gold eagles perched on side tables.

 

Newsweek reached out the White House with questions about how the president chose the new decor, but did not immediately receive a response.

 

Above the doorways, delicate gold cherubs peer down, a touch not seen in previous White House administrations. Gilded Rococo mirrors hang over the doors, reflecting the gold eagles perched on side tables, further reinforcing the theme.

 

 Even the accessories along the Resolute Desk reflect Trump's fondness for the golden motif, with a gold-plated replica of the FIFA World Cup trophy sitting aside framed photos of Trump and his family, and what appears to be a golden urn supported by two cherub-like figures, all positioned prominently behind the famous presidential desk.

 

Oval Office Trump

A gold-plated replica of the FIFA World Cup Trophy sits on a side table in the Oval Office, accompanied by a golden urn, framed photos, and other decorative items. Getty Images

 

However, this is not just a decorative urn. White House historian Donald Meriam told Newsweek that it is part of a larger set of fruit baskets from President James Monroe's gilt service, acquired from France in 1817. Their relocation to the Oval Office marks a notable departure from their traditional placement during White House tours.

 

"It's surprising that Trump has moved the fruit baskets to the Oval Office, as they are typically displayed in the State Dining Room during White House tours," Meriam said.

 

A Stark Contrast With Previous Terms

One of the latest photos from Joe Biden's presidency, showing the president speaking with soon-to-be-sworn-in President Trump on November 13, 2024, presents a stark visual contrast.

 

The gold figurines and mirrors are not yet present The fireplace mantel held only a green plant, and the portraits on the walls were generously spaced out for a more traditional aesthetic.

 

Oval Office Trump

A look at a photo from Trump's first term in the White House also reveals a less extravagant version of the space. While some gold elements can be seen in images from as late as September 2020, they were far less dominant. The fireplace mantle featured simple greenery, and the side tables had minimal ornamentation. A model of a redesigned Air Force One also sat prominently on the coffee table at that time.

 

Every piece added to the room under Trump's direction appears to have been carefully chosen to reflect his personal brand. The office now features an expanded gallery of portraits of past American luminaries, dominated by a large painting of former President Ronald Reagan, a figure Trump has long admired.

 

Above the fireplace, a Charles Willson Peale portrait of George Washington has replaced the smaller version that once hung there. The walls are now crowded with closely arranged, gold-framed paintings of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Andrew Jackson, leaving little empty space.

 

Trump has also returned a bronze bust of Winston Churchill to the Oval, a sculpture with a complicated past among the artifacts on display in the office. Former President Obama created a mini-firestorm in his first year in office when he was accused of refusing to display the Churchill bust, which Boris Johnson — then the mayor of London — called at the time "a symbol of the part-Kenyan president's ancestral dislike of the British empire."

 

In 2012, the White House refuted that as an "urban legend," and Obama himself later clarified that he had simply moved the bust to another part of the White House near his private office.

 

"There are only so many tables where you can put busts otherwise it starts to looks a little cluttered," Obama said in 2016.

 

The Churchill bust was returned to the Oval by Trump in his first term, then removed again by Biden. Trump has since reinstated it along the wall next to the fireplace.

 

On the opposite side remains a bust of Martin Luther King Jr., which is steeped in its own controversy. In the early days of Trump's first term, it was incorrectly reported that he had removed the MLK sculpture from the Oval, creating one of the first uproars of his brand-new administration.

 

The reporter for TIME magazine then acknowledged he was wrong and had simply failed to see it, though the erroneous report was said to have irked the president for weeks.