I’ve said it before and it bears repeating: Trump is really obsessed with renovation during this second term. Imagine a world where post first term, HGTV pitched Don a show called MAGA — Make America GOLD Again! Trump could’ve been occupied with his apparent one true passion, and we could’ve been spared, well, all this!! [gestures wildly at the depravity around us] But alas, we’re in #WorstTimeline, so instead of some random person’s home, it’s the People’s House (and bathroom) that Trump is gold-washing. Heavy sigh…
Last week, White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino posted a video of the glaring and garish touches Trump has installed in the Oval Office. It’s best viewed with sunglasses on. And speaking of the bright side, our citizenry clapped back with excellent comments online. My favorites include Chris Meloni trolling with “Long live the queen,” Adam Kinzinger landing a droll zinger with “Think it needs more gold. Doesn’t look like there’s enough fake gold. If you could add some more gold,” and this gem from Rick Wilson: “It looks like Liberace and Saddam designed a 19th century New Orleans whorehouse, without the taste and elegance.” Design trends may come and go, but a well-written barb stands the test of time! Anyway, HuffPost hopped on the commentary bandwagon and asked professional interior designers to weigh in on Trump’s Oval Office makeover. Some goldlights:
An interior clashing with historical architecture: “My first impression was that the redesign completely ignored the architecture it sits inside,” said interior designer Sarah Boardman. “The White House is a blend of Palladian and Georgian neoclassical design, with beautifully restrained Irish influences, soft curves, elegant proportions and detailed plasterwork that already provide all the ornament the room needs.” She noted that past presidents have generally honored that foundation, even if they opted for slightly bolder carpets or richer fabrics.
A ‘let them eat cake’ redesign: “This redesign goes in the opposite direction,” Boardman said. “The gold isn’t integrated into the architecture — it’s layered on top of it. The appliqués and ornaments look like they were purchased in bulk and installed everywhere instead of being thoughtfully selected. It has far more incommon with French Baroque and Rococo, the Versailles ‘let them eat cake’ era, than anything in the White House’s actual design lineage.”
The spectacle of it all: “Covering its neoclassical detailing with gold appliqués and props turns it into a set, not a workspace,” Boardman said. “The addition of red ropes, the staged lighting, it all reads more like a soundstage than the People’s House.” … Designer and artist Isabella Segalovich similarly noted the attention-grabbing aspect of the space. “From a pure aesthetic standpoint, the amount of one particular gold shade essentially chokes space in the room, and doesn’t allow anything else in space to breathe,” she said. “Like so many other things Trump does, it’s a demand for our attention.”
It’s supposed to be the People’s House, not Don’s house: “The Oval Office is a public room, not a personal living room,” [Boardman] said. “It’s the inner sanctum of American leadership, and historically it’s been designed to project restraint, steadiness and quiet confidence. World leaders, children, military families, everyone who enters that room should feel safe and grounded.” … “If he could, I suspect he’d rebuild the West Wing entirely in gold, mirrors, and marble tile, a reflection chamber instead of a place of governance, but the White House was never meant to glorify one person,” Boardman noted. “Its architecture was built to outlast them.”
Reminding himself of his status: “In this context, the gold feels like a constant reminder to himself of status, power and opulence,” Boardman said. “It reads as compensation rather than confidence, an environment designed to mirror back a specific image, even when it clashes with the room’s history and purpose.” … “Heavy, bright, ornate gold in this quantity isn’t just decorative, it’s symbolic. In a political setting, that much metallic shine attempts to communicate dominance, hierarchy and self-focus. It shifts the Oval Office from a working space into a stage set.”
Callous timing: “Especially at a time when his policies are making it harder for everyday people to make ends meet, it’s of course highly immoral that he chooses to flaunt how much money he’s spending on these designs,” Segalovich noted. “To me, the most important thing we can tell about Trump through his design sense is not that it’s flamboyant, but rather, that it’s soulless.”
Yeah, it’s not just the literal Versailles-inspired gold and mirrors overload that invokes “let them eat cake,” it’s the timing as well. We’re in a cost of living crisis of Trump’s own making, and Don’s like “I turned the Oval Office into my own gold snow globe!” Last year when he was only just starting with the gold glow up, I called the look “Ego Rococo.” Still works. Especially with all the designers in the article acting as quasi psychologists too, connecting Trump’s aesthetic choices to his inner insecurities. The idea that he NEEDS the gold as a reminder to himself of his importance, that stuck with me. It’s actually really sad, but I can’t muster any pity for him. Like his design choices, Trump is as subtle as he is sympathetic.
Photos credit: Daniel Torok/Avalon