Donald Trump Makes His Gold Oval Office a National Monument
President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation declaring the Oval Office and Cabinet Room national monuments, a move aimed at keeping future presidents from undoing his gold-covered redesign. The announcement, made just two days after Republicans suffered major losses in the midterm elections, quickly drew criticism.
Trump signed the order on Thursday, Nov. 5, telling reporters the rooms will be protected for good. "We're making it a national monument and it will not be allowed to be touched by anybody," he said, according to TheGrio.
What the Proclamation Does
The order requires a formal process before anyone can "substantially alter or demolish" the Oval Office, the Outer Oval Office or the Cabinet Room, according to HuffPost, which cited the Associated Press. It does not prevent changes to decor or furnishings.
Trump said he wanted to make sure the rooms would never be "touched by anybody, destroyed, ripped down by stupid people, in order to build something in a slightly different shape," The Irish Times reported.
"I'm going to be signing a document which will make them into a landmark for the ages," Trump said. "I just thought it was very important that nobody be allowed to come and take it down and try and do something with it."
He also had a message for anyone who might try. "If anybody ever decides to come and start knocking down walls, you call me wherever I may be," Trump said. "And I'll come back here and I'll make sure it never happens."
A red "Veto" cap sat on the desk during the signing, a nod to Trump's pledge to become "Mr. Veto" if Democrats won control of Congress.
Trump Defends His Renovations
Trump has heavily redecorated the Oval Office since returning to the White House, covering many surfaces in gold. He has also knocked down the East Wing to make way for a $600 million White House ballroom, which he toured with reporters on Wednesday.
Trump defended the work, calling the White House "a very important symbol of our country" and saying "we can't have broken windows." He also took a swipe at former President Barack Obama, saying Obama "doesn't know about dirt and filth."
The jab followed Obama's widely shared joke on the campaign trail that Trump's gold makeover looked like "Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory," which sparked a response from Trump at the time. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later answered the jab by dining at a Cheesecake Factory.
Critics Slam the Timing
Critics argued the timing showed Trump was focused on the wrong priorities. The order came days after Democrats won the House and flipped the Senate, in an election where voters signaled concern about high prices, the war with Iran and costly tariffs, HuffPost noted.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who chairs the Democratic Governors Association, called the Oval Office "gaudy" and said the gold "needs to be stripped" from it. He said Trump is "more concerned with keeping the Oval Office looking like it does now" than with his party's election losses.
Others questioned whether the order would accomplish anything. Critics pointed out that the White House is already a national historic landmark, a status that did not stop Trump from tearing down the East Wing. A future president could also likely revoke the proclamation, according to HuffPost.
What Happens Next
The proclamation does not spell out the legal authority behind it, and reports have not detailed how the review process for future changes would work.
For now, the gold stays. Trump has more than two years left in his term, and any effort by a successor to reverse the order would not come until after the 2028 election.
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