Trump signs proclamation to try to prevent changes to gold-covered Oval Office
President seeks to make Oval Office a national monument to ensure designs are not ‘ripped down by stupid people’ Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Thursday that he says will prevent future administrations from changing his design of the Oval Office and Cabinet Room, spaces which he declared as national monuments that should be preserved. In the days since his party suffered historic defeats in the midterm…
Key points
- Trump signed a proclamation declaring the Oval Office and Cabinet Room national monuments.
- He said the move would stop future administrations from altering his gold-covered design.
- Trump has also demolished the East Wing for a $600m ballroom and built a South Lawn helipad.
Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Thursday declaring the Oval Office and Cabinet Room national monuments, saying the move would prevent future administrations from changing his design of the West Wing rooms. He signed the document behind the Resolute Desk in the gold-covered Oval Office, telling reporters it would make the rooms "a landmark for the ages."
The signing came days after his party suffered historic defeats in the midterm elections. A red baseball cap reading "Veto" sat on the desk beside him as he signed.
What Trump said
Trump said the proclamation would ensure the rooms are not "touched by anybody, destroyed, ripped down by stupid people, in order to build something in a slightly different shape." He said he wanted to make sure nobody could take the design down or change it, and that if anyone tried to knock down walls, they should call him and he would return to stop it.
The president also defended his wider White House renovation work, saying the building's exterior had suffered years of deterioration, including cracked windows, damaged stonework and broken decorative features. He said he had paid for repairs and hired skilled workers to restore them.
I'm going to be signing a document which will make them into a landmark for the ages
— Donald Trump
Renovation projects and criticism
Since returning to office, Trump has begun several White House "beautification" projects, including demolishing the East Wing to make way for a $600m ballroom and building a permanent granite helipad on the South Lawn. His Oval Office redesign has drawn criticism, including from former president Barack Obama, who joked that "he's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory."
The White House responded with treasury secretary Scott Bessent appearing to hit back by dining at a Cheesecake Factory. Ahead of the midterms, Trump held a press conference on his $14m renovation of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, blaming Joe Biden for algae in its waters, and later led a media tour of the ballroom construction site.
