President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday declaring the Oval Office and certain surrounding rooms a national monument. This move seeks to prevent future presidents from altering the gold features he added to the walls during his second term. Trump told reporters from the gold-covered Oval Office on Thursday that he wants to make the space a "landmark for the ages." He said the rooms should not be "ripped down by stupid people, in order to build something in a slightly different shape." The order directs the National Park Service to maintain the rooms’ historic character, architectural integrity, and association with the Presidency. While the entire White House building holds National Historic Landmark status to prevent sudden changes, Trump’s proclamation claims the Oval Office deserves specific recognition and protective management as a discrete historic structure of national significance. The current Oval Office has existed since the early 1930s, following its conception by President Franklin D Roosevelt. During an interview with Time magazine in October, Trump suggested the Oval Office might need to be torn down because of Secret Service security concerns. "I said, ‘My ass, you can’t build a new one. This is a special place,’ Trump said at the time."
Legal experts dispute the order’s power
The proclamation offers little actual restriction on how future presidents select furniture or decor. Greg Werkheiser from the law firm Cultural Heritage Partners said that temporary changes like furniture and decor remain within a president’s discretion. He noted that as long as occupants do not damage permanent art and architecture, they can do whatever they want. Werkheiser described the president’s attempt to protect the office as "legally meaningless" because Congress has carved out an exemption to the National Historic Preservation Act to allow presidents to make needed changes. He also called the administration’s actions hypocritical and said that Trump speaks about the importance of preserving the Oval Office while he takes an axe to the laws that allow for the preservation of other historic sites. His firm has filed lawsuits to block two other projects, including the renovation of the Kennedy Center and the painting of the granite exterior of the historic executive office building. Former President Barack Obama criticized the new gold details in the Oval Office, saying they made the White House look like "Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory." Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent responded to the remark by dining at a Cheesecake Factory.
Massive White House renovation projects continue
Trump continues massive construction projects across Washington even after his Republican party suffered historic defeats in the midterm elections. Democrats gained control of Congress and made significant advances in states like Texas, Kansas, South Carolina, and Iowa after they campaigned on issues including affordability and tackling corruption. The president oversees the demolition of the East Wing to build a $600m ballroom and the construction of a permanent granite helipad on the South Lawn.
| Project | Cost | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| East Wing ballroom | $600m | Demolition for new space |
| Lincoln Memorial pool | $14m | Renovation addressing algae |
Trump defended his renovation work and pointed to cracked windows, damaged stonework, and broken decorative features. He claimed the exterior columns were in "horrible shape" before he hired workers to restore them. He also mentioned his $14m renovation of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, which he said suffered from algae during the Biden era. He told reporters on Monday that the algae was "brutal" and that for years people saw nothing but "dirt and filth and paper and everything else." Trump led a media tour of the White House Ballroom construction site two days after the election results came into focus and called the whole project a miracle. On the desk next to the signed proclamation sat a red baseball cap with the word "Veto" on it.
