Gold Drapes and Potato Chips: 6 White House Changes Courtesy of President Trump

6 Strange Changes Trump Made To the White House

Kevin Dietsch - Pool/Getty Images

President Donald Trump has clocked nearly a week in the White House, which has many wondering: What exactly does he think of his new digs? After all, this is a man renowned for splitting his time between a gold-covered penthouse in Manhattan and a gold-covered mansion in Palm Beach, FL.

The initial verdict: Overall, the 45th president seems pretty darn awestruck! Still, Trump has never been one to leave well enough alone, so he’s begun the (long?) process of leaving his distinctive mark on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Here’s a rundown of some of the more noteworthy items he’s added, eliminated, or kept in place in the most famous residence in the U.S.

Added: Gold drapes

The gold curtains match the general Trump aesthetic.
The gold curtains match the general Trump aesthetic.

Kevin Dietsch - Pool/Getty Images)

Not everything has to be left behind when you move into the People’s House. Here’s how much Trump loves gold: Within a few hours of being sworn in, one of his first orders of business was to take down the red drapes in the Oval Office and put up gold ones instead.

Added: More salty snacks

When Trump gets the munchies, he craves Lay’s potato chips. According to the New York Times, this classic salty snack was a staple on his private plane, so it’s no surprise that he demanded his private kitchen be well-stocked.

It’s a big change from the healthy treats that were a fixture when Barack Obama and George W. Bush were in residence. But Trump might want to add a few celery sticks into the mix due to the cardio demands of the new gig: Trump has marveled at how far he must walk in the White House for meetings in far-off rooms.

In the Trump Tower, he merely took the elevator from his penthouse on the 58th floor to his corner office on the 26th, sometimes barely breathing fresh air or working up a sweat for days.

Added: More busts

A huge dust-up occurred after a Time reporter claimed that Trump had banished a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office. Nope, this statue is still there, apparently “obscured by a door and an agent.” But what is true is that MLK Jr. now has company.

According to the Washington Post, Trump also brought in a bust of Winston Churchill.

A bust of Winston Churchill that George W. Bush received.
A bust of Winston Churchill that George W. Bush received.

TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images

Obama once said, “There are only so many tables where you can put busts—otherwise it starts looking a little cluttered.” Clearly, Trump has no problem with clutter as long as it’s in bust form.

Added: A new rug

Trump brought back the Laura Bush-designed rug used in the early days of the George W. Bush administration.
Trump brought back the Laura Bush-designed rug used in the early days of the George W. Bush administration.

MANNY CENETA/AFP/Getty Images

Yet there is one MLK Jr. remnant that Trump did do away with: According to U.S. News & World Report, he removed a huge, circular rug featuring quotes from four former presidents as well as MLK Jr.—replacing it with a gold sunburst rug designed by none other than former first lady Laura Bush.

This rug, Trump said, better reflected his “optimistic” outlook. Still, we can’t help thinking that the rug’s quotes were quite inspiring. How can you go wrong with Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” or MLK Jr.’s “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice”? But to each his own!

Added: A portrait of Andrew Jackson

After perusing his artwork options in the White House collections, Trump picked a portrait of Andrew Jackson to hang in the Oval Office. This makes sense, as Jackson was America’s first populist president, often invoked by Trump’s supporters.

Added: New couches

Trump also swapped out the Oval Office’s more casual gray suede couches for sofas in a way fancier fabric called brocade.


So many changes! And yet, there are also many things about the White House that Trump seems happy with, and doesn’t plan to confine to the dustbin of history.

Kept: The ‘beautiful’ phones

“These are the most beautiful phones I’ve ever used in my life,” Trump told the Times. He seemed to be fawning less over their aesthetics, and more over the fact that they were “the world’s most secure system” where no one could listen in. How strange, then, that the Times also reported that Trump still has his old, unsecured Android phone. Once a predawn tweeter, always a predawn tweeter?

Kept: The desk

Trump changed the drapes and rug, but kept the desk.
Trump changed the drapes and rug, but kept the desk.

Pete Souza/ The White House

Trump may be jettisoning many remnants of Obama’s White House decor, but one noteworthy piece of furniture he decided to keep in the Oval Office was the desk already in place: The Resolute, an ornate, opulent antique that is the one most used by past presidents, including Obama, Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, and John F. Kennedy. (Self-congratulatory note: We actually took a stab at guessing which desk Trump would pick before he even took office, and it turns out we were right. Go, us!)

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