Flags, Figurines and Gold Everywhere: Trump Transforms the Oval Office into a Gilded Gallery

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

'Insulting and Rude': Anne Applebaum Reacts to Vance's 'Random Country' Remark

Mar 4, 2025 | Vice President Vance is facing criticism after declaring that an American economic deal in Ukraine was a “better security guarantee than 20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years.”

Victoria Derbyshire Challenges Reporter who Asked Zelenskyy Why He Doesn’t Wear a Suit

Mar 4, 2025 | Victoria Derbyshire speaks to Brian Glenn, Chief White House Correspondent for Real America's Voice and the man who asked President Zelenskyy why he doesn't wear a suit during the tense meeting with President Trump at the Oval Office. He tells Newsnight about the public response to his question and discusses the possible peace deals to end the war between Ukraine and Russia.

Oval Office Ambush: America's Response to Trump's Meeting with Zelenskyy | The Warning with Steve Schmidt

Mar 3, 2025 | After the disastrous Oval Office meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy, it's been made clear who wants to uphold America's values and who just wants to obey Trump. Steve Schmidt breaks down the reactions to the Zelenskyy meeting and looks at who is betraying our country's ideals.

Trump’s ‘Minion’ JD Vance Needs to Resign Now: Sir Bill Browder

Mar 3, 2025 | Sir Bill Browder tells Times Radio’s Maddie Hale that US Vice-President JD Vance needs to resign from his job for not only “‘attacking” and attempting to “humiliate” Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Oval Office, but for also making a “fool” out of the United States.

Trump Lacked ‘Dignity’ in Oval Office Meeting with Zelenskyy

Mar 3, 2025 | “If you’re the president of the greatest country, you should have dignity. You should treat other leaders with respect even when you disagree with that.”

Despite the fiery clash between Trump and Zelenskyy, Ukrainian politician Oleksandr Merezhko says he remains “hopeful” Ukraine can move forward and “let bygones be bygones.”

Video Shows Heated Oval Office Meeting

President Donald Trump is extremely frustrated with his senior staff and communications team for allowing the firestorm surrounding Attorney General Jeff Sessions to steal his thunder in the wake of his address to Congress, sources tell CNN.

White House Blunder Over Oval Office Carpet Quote
THE TELEGRAPH: White House planners have mistakenly attributed a quotation to Martin Luther King in the new Oval Office carpet but the original author was in fact a now-forgotten 19th century activist.

Though President Barack Obama would no doubt admire the record of Theodore Parker, a Boston preacher and campaigner against slavery, his aides included the quote in the carpet to honour Dr King.

Among a series of quotes woven into the edge of the new beige carpet are the words: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." >>> | Sunday, September 05, 2010

Oval Office Showdown: Gen. McChrystal to face President Obama amid firestorm


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Video: UAE Torture Recording Threatens to Derail Nuclear Deal with United States
UAE Sheikh Issa tortures an Afghan businessman in Abu Dhabi
TIMESONLINE: A videotape showing a member of the United Arab Emirates Royal Family torturing a man is threatening a multibillion-dollar nuclear power deal between the US and the Gulf kingdom.

The 45-minute tape shows a man that the Government of Abu Dhabi has acknowledged is Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan — one of 22 royal brothers of the UAE President and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince — mercilessly and repeatedly beating a man with a cattle prod and a nailed board, burning his genitals and driving his Mercedes over him several times. He is assisted by a uniformed policeman.

The fallout from the film — which was smuggled out of the UAE by a former business associate of the sheikh — has reached all the way to the Oval Office, where the civilian nuclear deal, awaiting the signature of President Obama, remains unsigned. A senior US official has said that the Administration is holding off certifying the treaty as a direct result of the film.

The deal was sealed on January 15 during President Bush’s last week in office, but needs to be recertified by the new Administration. Under its terms, the US agrees to provide technology and equipment to help the UAE to develop civilian nuclear power plants. In return, the UAE pledges to abide by the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and not to reprocess its spent nuclear fuel.

Jim McGovern, the Democratic co-chairman of the congressional Human Rights Commission, viewed the tape last week and told The Times that it was “one of the most horrific things I have ever seen in my life”. In the tape the sheikh is seen torturing an Afghan grain salesman he claims has cheated him.

Mr McGovern has written to Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, expressing his “outrage, horror and revulsion” about the tape and demanding that all sales and transfers of technology to the UAE, “including nuclear”, be suspended. He calls on Mrs Clinton to take a lead role in the investigation. He also told The Times that he would hold congressional hearings into the issue. “If the UAE think this is going to blow over, they are wrong,” he said. The case will be a further test of the Obama Administration’s commitment to human rights. >>> Tim Reid in Washington | Friday, May 1, 2009