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.
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.
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