President Trump on Thursday declared the Oval Office a national monument, a move that protects his extensive renovations to the historic room from being undone by his successors.
By declaring the Oval Office a national monument, future presidents would be unable to make changes to it unless they get explicit approval from Congress.
“If [a future president] wants to say, ’let’s not have an oval anymore, let’s make it square,’ they have to go back to Congress and hopefully the people in Congress will be smart enough not to let that happen,” Mr. Trump told reporters as he signed the order.
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Mr. Trump has dramatically transformed the Oval Office since returning to the White House, replacing the relatively understated decor with an elaborate display of gold furnishings, gold decorations and presidential portraits. He installed gold trim along the walls and ceilings, gilded cherubs above the doorways, decorative gold eagles and gold ornaments around the fireplace.
The president also replaced the greenery traditionally displayed on the mantel with gold artifacts and added elaborate mirror and marble-topped tables. Some of the decorations were brought from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
Mr. Trump’s extensive renovations went beyond the minor redecorations always undertaken by incoming presidents — an artwork here, a favorite piece of furniture or new carpeting there.
On Thursday, Mr. Trump defended his renovations, saying the makeover restored the prestige and grandeur of the Oval Office.
“The Oval Office is a place of victory. It’s a place of prestige, like the White House,” Mr. Trump said. “I view the White House as a very important symbol of our country.”
Mr. Trump also criticized former presidents, saying they simply painted over cracks in the walls and accepted broken windows.
“You’d see the holes, you’d see the metal that held it from all these years and it was for many years and I said, ’we got to fix it.’ So because I did that, I get criticized,” he said.
As the press left Thursday, Mr. Trump announced that the declaration also extends to the Cabinet Room, which is the meeting room for the president’s department heads.
In an interview with Time magazine last month, Mr. Trump said he had been pressing White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles to explore ways to protect the Oval Office, which was built in 1909 by President Taft. It was renovated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1940s.
The proposed designation comes amid Mr. Trump’s broader campaign to remake Washington’s historic landmarks, including renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and the Kennedy Center, construction of a new White House ballroom and plans for a monumental arch near Arlington National Cemetery.
The White House is already designated a National Historic Landmark, but Congress exempted it from key provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act, giving presidents considerable freedom to renovate the building.
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