Trump brings the bling with gold-plated Oval Office makeover
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
US President Donald Trump has decked out the inner sanctum of the US presidency with gilded trophies and portraits of his predecessors.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON - Donald Trump promised a new “Golden Age” for America.
The Republican has decked out the inner sanctum of the US presidency with gilded trophies and gold-plated, Trump-branded coasters, and filled almost every available inch of wall space with portraits of his predecessors.
Almost every day seems to bring something new. This week, Mr Trump unveiled a copy of the Declaration of Independence – the historic document triggering America’s freedom from the British monarchy 250 years ago.
Far more than during his first term, it’s as if the 78-year-old former reality TV star and billionaire property mogul is creating something that is part-studio and part-exclusive real estate.
“President Trump is very good at playing the role of Donald Trump,” Mr Peter Loge, director of George Washington University’s School of Media, told AFP.
“The show is the point. Part of the show is the bling. It would be surprising if Trump did not remake the Oval Office into a TV set that reflected his brand.”
Presidential portraits
But there’s also a serious political message behind Mr Trump’s frenetic redecoration.
The Oval Office is the most potent symbol of American power, a backdrop to his frequent news conferences and televised meetings with foreign dignitaries – including a recent meltdown
It was, therefore, no coincidence when the gallery of presidential portraits got a new addition: the 19th-century president James Polk.
Under Polk, the 11th US president, the United States saw its biggest period of territorial expansion by taking in huge swathes of the west coast, the south-west and Texas.
It was a clear piece of political symbolism at a time that Mr Trump is alarming allies by openly talking about annexing Greenland, reclaiming the Panama Canal
‘Would Biden do this?
Each president picks most of their decor from similar sources including the White House art collection, but they still manage to stamp a very personal touch on the Oval.
The difference from Mr Trump’s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden could hardly be greater – as the 47th president himself is well aware.
“Do you think Joe Biden would do this? I don’t think so,” Mr Trump said on March 18 as he pulled back light-protecting drapes on the Declaration of Independence in an interview with Fox News Channel’s The Ingraham Angle.
A gold coaster reading “TRUMP” sitting on the table in front of US President Donald Trump, in the Oval Office of the White House, on March 12.
PHOTO: AFP
Mr Trump also pointed out gold cherubs newly installed above the doorways. “They say angels bring good luck,” he said.
Mr Biden’s Oval was a relative model of restraint, with five portraits around the famed fireplace, including wartime president Franklin D. Roosevelt’s directly above the hearth.
Mr Trump has nine – and that doesn’t count others near his desk, including Republican icon Ronald Reagan’s.
While Mr Biden had a sprawling Swedish ivy plant that reputedly dated back to John F. Kennedy on the mantelpiece, Trump has seven ornate gilded vessels, some of which are more than 200 years old.
And while both Mr Trump and Mr Biden had a bust of civil rights leader Martin Luther King on display, Mr Trump has brought back the bust of Britain’s World War II prime minister Winston Churchill that he had during his first term.
Framed mugshot
The ostentatious display should probably not come as a surprise for a man who announced his first presidential run by descending on a golden escalator at Trump Tower in New York.
The billionaire has long branded everything he can with his name, from buildings to bibles.
And Mr Trump’s makeover rarely shies away from promoting both his own brand and an image of strength that has been central to his political career.
Recently, one item that has been on permanent display is a large map identifying the “Gulf of America,” which the Trump administration has renamed from the Gulf of Mexico.
US President Donald Trump sitting in the Oval Office with a “Gulf of America” map over his right shoulder.
PHOTO: AFP
Mr Trump is even planning to pave over the famed Rose Garden that the Oval Office overlooks, to give it the patio-like feel of his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
“The grass just doesn’t work,” Mr Trump told Fox, adding that it gets “soaking wet.”
One of Mr Trump’s proudest touches, though, is a very unconventional portrait that hangs near those of his illustrious forebears.
Right outside the Oval Office in a gold frame hangs a photo of Mr Trump – his 2023 mugshot, as featured on the cover of a tabloid newspaper, from when he was booked in Georgia
A framed copy of Mr Trump’s 2023 mugshot hanging outside the Oval Office, during a February 2025 meeting between the US President and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
PHOTO: AFP
