Trump turns the Oval Office and Cabinet Room into monuments to his own ego
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President Donald Trump signed a proclamation declaring the Oval Office and Cabinet Room national monuments, framing the move as a way to freeze their current designs while critics see it as another self-glorifying gesture amid an aggressive White House makeover.
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Thursday that designates the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room as national monuments, a move he said is intended to keep the spaces unchanged by future administrations and preserve his preferred version of the White House for the ages.
"I’m going to be signing a document which will make them into a landmark for the ages," Trump told reporters from the gold-covered Oval Office, in remarks that underscored his theatrical obsession with symbolism. He added that the proclamation would prohibit any alterations, insisting that the rooms should not be "touched by anybody, destroyed, ripped down" for future redesigns.
The president tied the proclamation to a broader wave of White House renovation projects launched since he returned to office, including the demolition of part of the East Wing for a new ballroom and the construction of a permanent granite helipad on the South Lawn. He said the building’s exterior had suffered from deterioration, citing cracked windows, damaged stonework and deteriorated columns, and claimed that repairs had been funded and carried out by skilled workers.
The proclamation was signed alongside a red baseball cap bearing the word "Veto," a pointed reference to the president’s stated intention to block legislation passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress. Democrats secured major gains in the recent midterm elections, taking control of Congress and winning in several traditionally Republican states. The president’s renovation plans have drawn criticism from various public figures, while the White House has defended the work as necessary maintenance and improvement of the historic building.