{"id":13215,"date":"2025-10-23T09:26:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T09:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/13215\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T09:26:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T09:26:25","slug":"trump-is-making-major-white-house-renovations-see-whats-changing-141","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/13215\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Is Making Major White House Renovations. See What’s Changing."},"content":{"rendered":"

In less than a year, President Trump has already significantly remade the White House. The Oval Office is decorated from top to bottom in gold<\/a>. The Rose Garden\u2019s lawn is paved over. And this week, the entire East Wing is being torn down<\/a> as Mr. Trump\u2019s ballroom project forges ahead.<\/p>\n

Here is what we know about five key White House renovations:<\/p>\n

East Wing Ballroom<\/p>\n

One of the biggest renovations underway is Mr. Trump\u2019s addition of a ballroom to the East Wing. First announced in July, Mr. Trump trumpeted its construction<\/a> as necessary to host large events for world leaders. He has said it will cost more than $200 million to build and will hold \u201c999\u201d people.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump has said that personal contributions and private donations will cover the bill for the ballroom, not taxpayers or foreign contributions. But this has raised concerns<\/a> among historians and government ethics experts.<\/p>\n

McCrery Architects, via the White House<\/p>\n

According to images released by the White House, the proposed design of the ballroom\u2019s interior echoes features of the Grand Ballroom at Mr. Trump\u2019s Palm Beach resort, Mar-a-Lago.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump previously pledged that the East Wing would not be touched by the construction, but the White House later determined it was cheaper and more structurally sound to completely tear down the East Wing to build the ballroom, according to a senior administration official.<\/p>\n

Alex Kent for The New York Times<\/p>\n

Rose Garden<\/p>\n

Over the summer, Mr. Trump had the Rose Garden paved over with stone tiles, and tables with yellow and white striped umbrellas were added, mirroring<\/a> the hard-surface patio at Mar-a-Lago. But the rose bushes are still there.<\/p>\n

Doug Mills\/The New York Times<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Franz for The New York Times<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump recently hosted a dinner<\/a> for Republican lawmakers in the renovated space, calling it the \u201cRose Garden Club.\u201d The ceremony to posthumously award the conservative activist Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom was also held here.<\/p>\n

Oval Office<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump\u2019s affinity for gold decor is perhaps most evident in the Oval Office. Portraits framed in gold are mounted on the walls, along with gold framed mirrors and gilded onlays. Even the presidential seal on the ceiling of the office is covered in gold leaf.<\/p>\n

Doug Mills\/The New York Times<\/p>\n

The Oval Office is the official working space of the president, and in his second term, Mr. Trump has often used it to meet with foreign leaders. The backdrop to these meetings is usually the fireplace mantle that Mr. Trump has adorned with historic items from the White House collection \u2014 all in gold.<\/p>\n

President Trump meeting with President Alexander Stubb of Finland on Oct. 9.<\/p>\n

Kenny Holston\/The New York Times<\/p>\n

Presidents often make changes to the Oval Office to reflect their priorities or the legacy they want to embody. But past presidents, including Mr. Trump in his first term, have typically decorated using a more subdued approach.<\/p>\n

George W. Bush, June 2005<\/p>\n

Barack Obama, January 2014<\/p>\n

Donald Trump, September 2020<\/p>\n

Doug Mills\/The New York Times<\/p>\n

In his second term, Mr. Trump has even moved the White House ivy that has typically adorned the mantle to a greenhouse.<\/p>\n

Cabinet Room<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump\u2019s gold theme extends to the Cabinet Room, where he often holds meetings with his staff and occasionally with international leaders. Golden onlays and trim have been added to the walls, and the mantle is also decorated with gold items.<\/p>\n

Kenny Holston\/The New York Times<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump has also added more flags to the room, including flags for specific branches of the military, including the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force. Ornate chandeliers now light the room.<\/p>\n

West Colonnade<\/p>\n

In September, Mr. Trump unveiled the \u201cPresidential Walk of Fame\u201d on the West Colonnade, which is the main walkway between the White House\u2019s executive residence and the West Wing. The exhibit displays every president\u2019s portrait, in chronological order, framed in gold with additional gold onlays above the portraits.<\/p>\n

Doug Mills\/The New York Times<\/p>\n

But in place of former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.\u2019s portrait is a photo of an autopen signing his name, a reference to the claims Mr. Trump has made without giving evidence that Mr. Biden\u2019s cognitive state impaired him from signing documents and granting pardons. Presidents and other politicians have used devices like the autopen for decades<\/a>, and Mr. Biden has said he made the clemency decisions<\/a> that were signed with an autopen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In less than a year, President Trump has already significantly remade the White House. The Oval Office is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[5462,4074,2822,1452,10016,9,11,10,9234,7288,1069,1876,9233],"class_list":{"0":"post-13215","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-architecture","9":"tag-dc","10":"tag-demolition","11":"tag-donald-j","12":"tag-interior-design-and-furnishings","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-headlines","15":"tag-new-york-news","16":"tag-presidents-and-presidency-us","17":"tag-restoration-and-renovation","18":"tag-trump","19":"tag-united-states-politics-and-government","20":"tag-white-house-building-washington"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}