Trump’s Golden Conceits: An Oval Office that would make Liberace Blush

Liberace, the flamboyant entertainer, would have loved Donald Trump’s redecorated Oval Office. The executive office has evolved from the modest, understated décor of the Biden years into Trump’s gilded maximalism.

This is business as usual. Every president makes new interior design choices upon entering the White House, often reflecting personal tastes and political views. Trump’s second administration, even more than his first term, has been dedicated to his unrestrained love of gold décor.

During televised meetings in the Oval Office, everything that viewers see glistens. There are gold furnishings, gold ceiling trim, gold appliques on the walls, gold-framed portraits and gold-framed mirrors. Arranged on the coffee table are gold paperweights and
coasters embellished with the Trump name. The fireplace is flanked by gold cherubs and medallions. Gilded objets d’art — dessert stands, centerpieces, and bronze baskets — crowd the fireplace mantle. All date back to the early and mid 19th Century and were
made in England and France, and none hails from the United States.

The White House cabinet room where Trump meets with his cabinet members, has
undergone a similar makeover. During a recent cabinet meeting, Trump explained the room had previously featured “some not very good portraits.” He had those replaced with other, selected for their ornate frames. He said, revealingly, “I’m a frame person.” He completed the room’s transformation with a grandfather’s clock that he commandeered from the office of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

If there’s any doubt that this is Trumpian style, he brags to visitors, “I picked it all myself and I’m proud of it.” The décor echoes the golden look of his Trump Tower penthouse and the ballroom at Mar-a-Lago which is drenched with gold from floor to ceiling.

Despite Trump’s self-satisfaction, there are many harsh critics of his golden tastes. New York magazine termed the office redo “tacky and trollish,” the Washington Post called it “gaudy and awful.” New York Times’ essayist Emily Keegin found the redesign “a gilded rococo hellscape,” while journalist Peter York labelled it “dictator chic,” likening it to the homes of the late Muammar el-Quaddafi.

Professor of International History Quinn Slobodian at Pardee School of Global Studies argues that Trump’s style is akin to the fascist models of 1930 Germany and Italy. Alternatively, Slobodian accuses Trump of transplanting the economy of Saudi Arabia into the United States. Photographer Fran Lebowitz says Trump’s décor “looks fake.” She dubbed it “a poor person’s idea of a rich person.”

This is just a sampling of disparaging comments. Suffice to say, the Oval Office’s new look has been judged a tasteless embarrassment. If these renovations weren’t sufficient, Trump is now planning to build “a beautiful, top of the line ballroom” in the East Wing of the White House. The president says the 90,000-square foot structure will be paid by “patriot donors” and will hold up to 650 seats. Along with his addition of two giant flag poles and paving over of the rose garden, the proposed ballroom will be the largest renovation in history. Citing that gold-drenched Mar-a-Largo ballroom, Trump concluded “there’s never been a president that is this good at ballrooms.”

There’s sickening irony in finding Trump devoted to the stylistic look of Louis XIV and the golden Palace of Versailles. Louis believed in the divine right of kings and saw himself as God’s representative on earth. The so-called “Sun King” had moved his administration to Versailles to exact more control over the government and to distance himself from the population of Paris.

Until this nation comes to grip with Trump’s overreach and until voters recognize their tragic mistake, we’re stuck with Trump and his golden conceits.