hen Donald Trump returned to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue after his “working vacation” in Bedminster, the West Wing had undergone some radical changes. For one, Steve Bannon had been fired. But just as prominently, the White House had finally received a much-needed $3.4 million upgrade. While Trump deservedly caught some flack for allegedly calling the residence a “dump,” current and former administration staffers have admitted the property could use some sprucing up. The renovation, approved during the Obama administration, included updating a 27-year-old H.V.A.C. system, upgrading I.T. systems, and repairing the South Portico steps for the first time since the Eisenhower administration. Much like any fixer-upper project, though, the structural changes gave the new administration a chance to change the decor—an opportunity that Trump, an amateur interior decorator with an eye for Louis XIV-style glitz, apparently seized with vigor.
CBS News toured the new digs, which include a refresh of the Navy mess, the West Wing’s V.I.P. lobby, and the Roosevelt Room, which is now a tribute to both our 26th president and Sheraton Conference Centers. (House Beautiful has some more before-and-after photos of the renovation, which showcase the White House’s preference for a neutral color palette of taupes and grays, a very on-trend look for the Fixer Upper and West Elm set.)
The Oval Office itself received a facelift, swapping out the midcentury modern furniture and curtains for some conspicuously gold-hued upholstery, and replacing Barack Obama’s striped yellow wallpaper with a gray damask print that Trump picked out himself. (The wallpaper itself is temporary and may be changed when Trump picks out a permanent rug; a pragmatic choice for someone renting a room.)
Normally, this would be an uncontroversial process, newsworthy only to HGTV Magazine and Martha Stewart acolytes, but in Trump’s White House, full of leaking and backstabbing and petty feuds, an unnamed source could not resist taking a swipe at his predecessor’s design choices:
Mr. Trump wanted to bring back the luster and the glory of the White House said the White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Obama wallpaper was very damaged. There were a lot of stains on it the official said.
This may be the first time in White House history that a White House official has gone on background to discuss something as mundane as a wallpaper refresh.
Some of the changes were more symbolic than cosmetic. Trump also selected politically relevant pieces of decor to offset his attempt at a muted color palette. He previously raised hackles when he chose a portrait of Andrew Jackson to hang in his office, added six extra flags behind his desk, and replaced a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. with one of Winston Churchill, complaining that Obama had given the bust back to the British government. (A false story, it turns out.) CBS News noted that Trump had added another touch to the Roosevelt Room: “Two large, gilded eagles—acquired by G.S.A.’s West Wing historian at a Maryland antique shop”—which now “adorn pedestals” in the large West Wing conference room.