Trump Shows Off Gold Decor in White House Makeover He Says Makes Foreign Leaders ‘Freak Out’

In one of his stand-up comedy specials, comedian John Mulaney summed up President Trump thusly: “He’s a very rich man. In fact, to me at this point, Donald Trump, he’s like, not just a rich man. Donald Trump is like, what a hobo imagines a rich man to be.”The president has brought the Monopoly Man to life in his second term in office. Over the weekend, he crowed about his extensive installations of gold — 24k gold, of course — in the Oval Office and other White House spaces such as the Cabinet Room. In full boast mode — complete with numerous exclamation points and randomly capitalized words — the billionaire trumpeted “some of the highest quality 24 Karat Gold” used in the historic building’s transformation.In a 37-second video posted to his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Mr. Trump panned across golden medallions and decorative accents that now adorn the Oval Office, writing that foreign leaders “‘freak out’ when they see the quality and beauty.”“Best Oval Office ever, in terms of success and look!!!” Mr. Trump declared in his post.Since returning to office in January, Mr. Trump has implemented sweeping changes throughout the White House grounds. The president has added flagpoles to the North and South lawns and paved over the grassy area of the Rose Garden (while leaving the roses first planted by Jacqueline Kennedy intact), where he holds huge outdoor dinner parties.Mr. Trump installed a “Presidential Walk of Fame” in the White House featuring headshots of previous commanders-in-chief, save for President Biden, whose portrait is an auto-pen machine. Construction has also begun on a new $200 million White House ballroom, which he says he is designing and will be paid for by some of America’s biggest companies. Like other projects and changes, Mr. Trump has declared that he is footing the bill himself for most of the work.That shouldn’t be a problem for a billionaire who has more than doubled his net worth in just the last couple of years. The Trump family has significantly expanded its financial portfolio through a series of cryptocurrency ventures, adding billion of dollarss to its collective net worth since Mr. Trump took office in January. According to Forbes, Mr. Trump’s personal net worth has more than doubled this year, growing to more than $5 billion this year from an estimated $2.3 billion in 2024.The most recent windfall involves World Liberty Financial, a company co-founded by Mr. Trump’s three sons, Donald Jr., Eric, and Barron, with Mr. Trump listed as “co-founder emeritus.” The company launched public trading for its crypto token, $WLFI, earlier this month. According to the Wall Street Journal, this launch alone has increased the Trump family’s paper wealth by as much as $5 billion.In addition to World Liberty Financial, speculative meme coins — including $TRUMP and $MELANIA, which were launched just before Mr. Trump’s inauguration — have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, as reported by the New Yorker.Some critics, unsurprisingly, ripped the expenditures at the White House. “We are $40 trillion dollars in debt,” the founder of Tolou Capital Management, Spencer Hakimian, wrote on X. The CEO of Risk and Progress Group, J.K. Lund, piled on, writing, “Gold fixtures like these are found in Versailles or St. Petersburg, meant to show off the wealth of the king or csar.” Others have dismissed the complaints, noting that Mr. Trump was spending his own money, not that of taxpayers. Mr. Trump’s extensive renovations continue a long White House tradition of presidents customizing their living and working spaces, though the Oval Office transformation represents the most dramatic change in appearance in decades. Mr. Trump replaced the previously modest decor with gold flourishes throughout the room. The aesthetic mirrors the extravagant gilded interiors of Mr. Trump’s personal residences, including Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago, and contrast sharply with those of Mr. Trump’s predecessor, President Biden, who maintained more traditional decor during his tenure. Whereas Mr. Biden displayed six paintings on the Oval Office walls, Mr. Trump now features nearly 20 images of presidential predecessors.Mr. Trump said in April that he had brought his “gold guy” — John Icart, a 70-year-old cabinetmaker from south Florida who previously worked on Mar-a-Lago projects — to Washington on Air Force One to install the custom-made gold finishes. He personally oversaw the installation of gold carvings on the Oval Office mantle and brought gold cherubs from Mar-a-Lago for installation in the White House, according to administration officials. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has described the redecorated space as a “golden office for the golden age.”Despite Mr. Trump’s claims about the gold’s quality, some observers have raised questions about the materials used. A recent investigation by Sherwood News found decorative medallions in the White House appear nearly identical to “High-density Home Decoration Polyurethane Appliques” available from Chinese suppliers for as little as $1 to $5 each.The new gold decor has drawn polarized reactions from other more famous style critics. Interior designer Tommy Landen told Newsweek that the gold clashes with the White House’s neoclassical architecture. “It’s more baroque and more like what you’d see in European palaces, which was the antithesis of what they were going for with the design of the White House,” he said.Mr. Landen added that while “gold is very beautiful, and gold accents can be really beautiful,” the problem arises when “you overload it and just keep adding more and more. It becomes overwhelming. It becomes gaudy and tacky.”Musician Jack White offered harsher criticism, comparing the change to a “vulgar, gold leafed and gaudy, professional wrestler’s dressing room.” For Mr. Trump’s fans, the makeover is just in time for America’s 250th birthday and the Ultimate Fighting Championship match to be held on the South Lawn next Independence Day.

Trump Shows Off Gold Decor in White House Makeover He Says Makes Foreign Leaders ‘Freak Out’

Trump Shows Off Gold Decor in White House Makeover He Says Makes Foreign Leaders ‘Freak Out’

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