Trump’s Oval Office Decor Is All Gold

Photo: Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images

President Donald Trump has never been known for his subtle taste in interior design. That was never more obvious than on Monday, when Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Oval Office and photos of the visit showed the full scope of his décor choices. AP reporter Michelle Price shared a harrowing comparison of Trump’s all-gold design decisions and Joe Biden’s totally normal office:

The famed office of the president is now — not unlike Mar-a-Lago — filled with gold, literally from floor to ceiling. There’s an overstuffed gallery wall (each portrait with a gilded frame), a pair of loud side tables featuring gold eagles as the base, and gold decals on the moulding and fireplace.

Each president gets to make their own decisions when it comes to Oval Office design. During his first term, Trump kept things relatively normal, retaining Barack Obama’s neutral wallpaper and hanging portraits only of Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. Joe Biden brought color back to the office with a vibrant blue rug reminiscent of Bill Clinton’s.

Is the greenery adorning Biden’s mantle a little silly looking? Sure. Does it look better than seven gold vases and statues? Absolutely. Trump’s Oval Office looks awful because he doesn’t know about negative space. The idea that the absence of stuff might make things more appealing is completely foreign to him. If this were the office of a fictional president who was obsessed with money and appearances, it would be a little on the nose.

Because he has no taste, Trump loves his shiny office. In an interview with Laura Ingraham last month, he bragged about his cluttered walls. “It’s much different, never been like that,” he told her. “You had some of those paintings in vaults and safes for 100 years!” Who knows if that’s even true, but it’s funny that he’s acting like James K. Polk’s portrait is a freed prisoner of war. He also proudly discussed all his gold with Ingraham, telling her “a little secret”: “You’ve never been able to match gold with gold paint,” he said, “That’s why it’s gold.” This might be his one true area of expertise.

What Trump has done to the Oval is, like, 998th on the list of horrible things he’s done in the less than three months he’s been in office, but it’s still on the list. It’s also possible that it’s only going to get worse. There’s still some blank space on those walls.