CNN: WashingtonCNN — As President Donald Trump works to dramatically reshape the federal government, he is also in the middle of transforming another historic aspect of the presidency: the Oval Office.
Nearly eight weeks since returning to office, Trump has tripled the number of paintings hanging on the office walls. Shelves and surfaces are adorned with flags, statues and ornaments.
And in keeping with the style he has adhered to for decades, there is gold everywhere: new gold vermeil figurines on the mantle and medallions on the fireplace, gold eagles on the side tables, gilded Rococo mirrors on the doors, and, nestled in the pediments above the doorways, diminutive gold cherubs shipped in from Mar-a-Lago. Even the remote control for the television down the hall is wrapped in gilt.
He had even toyed with the idea of hanging a chandelier in the Oval Office, according to two people familiar with his plans, though that seems unlikely now.
It all makes for a White House increasingly reminiscent of Trump’s South Florida home. Work is expected to begin within weeks on Trump’s plans to revamp the Rose Garden by paving over the grass and turning it into a patio-style seating area, much like the one where he holds court at Mar-a-Lago. The president personally reviewed the plans for the Rose Garden recently with White House curators.
Trump has discussed his vision for the outdoor space, originally designed by first lady Ellen Wilson, with visiting heads of state as they walk along the South Portico, according to an official in a visiting delegation.
On the South Lawn, the president hopes to build a new ballroom to host state dinners, modeled after the one at Mar-a-Lago, which in turn was inspired by the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. He has reviewed multiple sets of blueprints since taking office, showing them off to visitors and making tweaks to the designs. Trump has long said he’ll pay for the construction himself – he even offered to build it during the Obama administration – but it’s still not clear whether the project will proceed on the historic grounds.
“It keeps my real-estate juices flowing,” Trump told The Spectator recently of the prospective renovations. “But it’ll be beautiful.” » | Kevin Liptak, Kaitlan Collins and Jeff Zeleny, CNN | Sunday, March 16, 2025
