Trump Seeks To Designate Oval Office, Cabinet Room National Monuments

(MENAFN- USA Art News) President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a proclamation aiming to designate the Oval Office and the adjacent Cabinet Room as national monuments. This designation, he stated, would prevent subsequent administrations from undertaking significant alterations without Congressional consent.

During his second term, Trump prioritized redecorating both spaces, transforming the previously understated presidential work areas into extensively gilded interiors inspired by the style of Louis XIV. Following historic defeats for Republicans in this week's midterm elections, Trump appears to be focusing on the numerous renovation projects he initiated across the White House and Washington, D.C., as a means of“self-soothing.”

White House projects, beyond the Oval Office makeover, have included constructing a granite helipad on the South Lawn and, most notably, demolishing the East Wing to make way for a 90,000-square-foot, $600 million ballroom. Trump conducted a media tour of the ballroom construction site on Wednesday, his first public appearance after Tuesday's Republican losses. In Washington, D.C., Trump also initiated a controversial $14 million repair of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, began redeveloping a popular public golf course by cutting down hundreds of trees, and proposed a 250-foot-high triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery.

Concerned that incoming Democrats might block the arch's construction, Trump sought expedited approval for the project, which his appointed planning commission granted on Wednesday. However, that same evening, Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a temporary injunction, halting construction for 14 days. The effectiveness of designating the Oval Office a national landmark in preventing future presidential revisions or disregard remains unclear, especially as the White House already holds National Historic Landmark status, which did not deter Trump from building his ballroom. Nevertheless, speaking from the now gold-covered Oval Office, Trump informed reporters,“When completed, and when we get the documentation fully done, legally binding, it'll make it impossible for anybody ever to destroy this incredible space.”

Source: ARTnews

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