Latest news with #CabinetRoom
Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Trump unveils makeover of iconic White House room
By President Donald Trump has turned his acute attention to yet another White House makeover, this one of the Cabinet Room – with surprise decorative choices provide new insights about the president's heroes and pet peeves. One antique furniture selection even underscored how he has the power to seize what he wants from his most powerful subordinates – something the president pointed out to the top people who report to him. Other selections reveal a more superficial appreciation for something as basic as a wood picture frame. 'I picked it all myself. I'm very proud of it,' Trump said. The president couldn't help but give a visual tour of the redesign during a televised cabinet meeting Tuesday that ran well over an hour, and shared personal observations about each of the hand-picked items. Some had gone unused for a century, he claimed. He said he personally rummaged through a White House 'vault' with curators to select new works, comparing himself to one former president who oversaw the largest expansion of territory in the nation's history. An aide said there was no set date for the redo, with Trump redesigning on a 'daily basis.' 'You know, we spent a lot of time, effort – very little money – on this room,' Trump told his team at a meeting where he railed on Vladimir Putin and crowed about new tariff letters he said would bring billions in revenue to the country. 'This is called the Cabinet Room. It's been here for a long time, and it had some pictures that were ... not many of them and not very good ones. And I actually spent time in the vaults.' Some of Trump's most revealing comments came while discussing a portrait of former President James K. Polk – who presided over the U.S.-Mexican war and was able to seize massive U.S. territory. Polk is among the pro-imperialism president who have drawn middling reviews from historians, although he often earns points for setting out his his goals during the campaign and stepping back after achieving them in office. Trump, a former real estate developer, set his sights on acquiring Greenland and making Canada the 51st state immediately after the November elections. 'That's a gentleman named and we call him President Polk. He was sort of a real estate guy,' Trump said. 'He was – people don't realize he was one of them. He was a one-termer, but he was a very good president. But, and I'm not sure I should be doing this, he actually gave us the state of California ,' Trump said. Trump's real estate comment appeared to be a sly comment on the land grab, as Polk was professionally what these days might be called a career politician. But there were reasons besides massive territorial acquisition why Trump picked the portrait – having to do with how the 11th president was framed. 'I'm not sure – maybe he won't be there for long,' Trump joked, earning laughs from his team while talking about a state where he deployed U.S. Marines amid street protests and Gov. Gavin Newsom has been a top critic. 'If you notice, the frame is the exact same size almost as the other one is, Andrew Jackson. So that was a part of the reason, too, I have to be honest,' Trump allowed. 'But Polk is actually a very good president who's got the same frame that I needed.' Trump also selected a painting of President Dwight Eisenhower, whom he called a 'very underrated president.' It wasn't just the Interstate Highway System that Trump pointed out when hailing the Army General who was the as Supreme Commander of the Allies during World War II. 'He was the toughest president, I guess, until we came along,' Trump said. 'He was the toughest president on immigration. He he was very strong at the borders. Very, very strong. And sometimes he could be too strong.' He was likely referencing the 'Operation Wetback' overseen by Eisenhower, which was the largest mass deportation of undocumented migrants in history. 'And during a certain period of time, they were so strong that almost every farmer in California went bankrupt. We have to remember that,' Trump added, days after making comments calling for exceptions for farmworkers and hospitality workers amid his own mass deportation. Trump also evinced enthusiasm for a portrait of a young Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the former governor of the state Trump left to reside in Florida. 'This is very exciting to me. He was not a Republican, to put it mildly, but he was, you know, four-termer,' said Trump, whose allies have spoken about ways to get around the Constitution for a third term. Trump also pointed out the ramps put in to accommodate the wheelchair-bound FDR. 'He was an amazing man. It's an amazing portrait,' Trump said. But he complained that a prior portrait in the room was a 'terrible portrait.' 'It was almost like it was done by a child. And I used to say, you know, I can't believe that he would have approved of that portrait of himself.' This is something Trump knows something about, having recently complained so forcefully about a portrait of himself in the Colorado state house that state Republican leaders immediately took it down and installed a new one. Another portrait he selected is of a Republican national hero. But the best one, to Trump's tase, was already in use in the Lincoln Bedroom. It sat there 'for many, many years,' Trump said. 'That was his favorite picture of himself. And the Lincoln Bedroom is very famous. You remember when Bill Clinton had it and he rented it out to people?' he said, taking a shot at another predecessor over a 90s scandal of letting top donors stay there. 'I said, I have to give it up, because that's one of the greatest pictures of the White House.' Trump even dwelt on his own personality and obsessions with framing. 'It doesn't work if you have, I want to be nice, but it doesn't work if you have a big frame, a little frame of you – but it's like perfection. I'm a perfectionist,' he said. 'Look at those frames. You know, I'm a frame person. Sometimes I like frames more than I like the pictures,' Trump said. He said some of the items 'sat in the vaults for over 100 years. He brought up china, silverware, and so-called trophyware. But there was one item Trump just had to have. It was an antique grandfather clock. It previously resided in the State Department, he said, which under the control of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump also named his national security advisor after forcing out predecessor Mike Waltz. 'It's really become quite a beautiful place. I don't want to tell this, though Marco pointed it out. I was going to leave the clock. So as president, you have the power – if I go into the State Department or Department of Commerce or Treasury, if I see anything that I like, I'm allowed to take it.' 'So I'm in Marco's [office]... , I see this gorgeous clock, grandfather clock. I said, Marco ...' Trump said, to more laughs. 'I said, Marco, I love this clock. Look at it. It's beautiful. He said, "What clock?"' 'The clock that's in the other room is incredible, and nobody gets to see it there,' Trump recounted. 'Marco – I tried to talk him into it first, and it sort of worked. And then I had to use a little more ...' 'I'd love to take that clock out and put it in the Cabinet Room. He said, "No, are you serious?" I said, Marco, I have the right to do it. He said, "what the hell."' It doesn't take a top diplomat to predict how the matter was going to turn out. 'Marco: that's his contribution to the Cabinet Room,' Trump said. That Cabinet Room came to be during a 1902 addition of the West Wing. President Richard Nixon gifted its oval mahogany table. Other presidents have also given it personal touches. President George W. Bush gave it busts of Washington and Franklin and portraits of Teddy Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Eisenhower, and Washington.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's Power Meet Turned Into Vote on White House Decor
Donald Trump's next move as the White House's resident makeover king is to give the Cabinet Room decor his trademark Midas touch. A big fan of shiny things, Trump has already turned the White House as golden as possible. That has included adding gold trim to the crown molding around the ceiling of the Oval Office, to match the gold curtains and gold around the fireplace mantel. Gold cherubs from his Florida Mar-a-Lago estate have been installed in the White House, as well as gold vases and urns and a gold 'Trump' crest over the door leading into the White House. There are also gold drink coasters with the president's surname printed on them. CNN reported Trump has tripled the amount of portraits in the White House, including one of himself. The Washington Post story stated Trump is a particularly big fan of frames. 'You know, I'm a frame person,' he said. 'Sometimes I like frames more than I like the pictures.' Already this year, Trump installed two 88-foot flagpoles that are 'about as big as you can get' in the North and South lawns of the White House. The White House Rose Garden lawn is also getting a do-over, being replaced with stone tiles to create a patio in the style of Mar-a-Lago. Trump said in March, 'The grass just, it doesn't work. We use it for press conferences and it doesn't work because the people fall into the wet grass.' The president used downtime after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday to discuss everything from Gaza to global tariffs, and to highlight the cosmetic changes he has instigated in the Cabinet Room. 'It's really become quite a beautiful place,' the Washington Post reports the president stating as part of a 15-minute 'roving tour' where he pointed out new artwork in the 'very important room, very powerful room, great room.' At one point Trump said, 'We also painted the room a nice color: beige. It's been really something.' The president also said of the Cabinet Room light fixtures, 'These lamps have been very important, actually,' and pointed out he added medallions on top of them. The president also pointed to the Cabinet Room ceiling and asked assembled officials, 'Will I gold-leaf the corners?' He added, 'It won't look good because they've never found a paint that looks like gold. So painting it is easy, but it won't look right.' The president did a quick straw poll, with Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth both agreeing with Trump on the gold leaf option. The White House has been contacted for an update on the status of the gold leaf on the ceiling.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Humiliates Little Marco With Petty Power Play
President Donald Trump has gone on a back-slapping victory lap after stealing a clock from his secretary of state, Marco Rubio. During a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the president found time between issues such as Gaza and global tariffs to boast about his proposed redesign of the Cabinet Room in the White House. This mainly involves splashing gold leaf around the place to make it look like his Florida residence, Mar-A-Lago. Even still, Trump proudly pointed out the tweaks he had already made, drawing attention to the portraits of past presidents that he retrieved from the vault to hang in the room. 'I picked it all myself. I'm very proud of it,' he said. One moment in particular stood out, as the commander-in-chief revealed that he pulled rank on Rubio to relieve him of a 'beautiful' grandfather clock that was stationed in his State Department office. 'So as president, you have the power—if I go into the State Department, or Department of Commerce or Treasury—if I see anything that I like, I'm allowed to take it. Can you believe this?" Trump said, prompting laughs from everyone in the room. Trump then earnestly launched into a story about how he forced Rubio— who, in a jab about his height, he dubbed 'Little Marco' during the 2016 presidential campaign—to give up the ornamental timepiece. 'I'm in Marco's office [and] I see this gorgeous clock, grandfather clock,' a grinning Trump explained, with Rubio awkwardly smiling to his right. 'I had to read him the rule and regulation,' Trump joked as he delivered the first of two sturdy slaps to Rubio's back. 'I said, 'Marco, I love this clock. Look at it. It's beautiful.'' 'He said, 'What clock?'' Trump said, adding that he tried to cajole Rubio into voluntarily giving up the timepiece. 'I tried to talk him into it first, and it sort of worked,' the president added, suggesting that he needed to apply more pressure to push the deal over the line. He said he received pushback from Rubio before he was forced to pull rank. 'I said, 'Marco, I have the right to do it,'' Trump told the Cabinet Room as he slapped Rubio's back for a second time. Hard. 'That's his contribution to the Cabinet Room,' Trump concluded. 'But, by the way, it's an incredible clock.'
Daily Mail
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Trump unveils makeover of iconic White House room with very telling details about his personal style
President Donald Trump has turned his acute attention to yet another White House makeover, this one of the Cabinet Room – with surprise decorative choices provide new insights about the president's heroes and pet peeves. One antique furniture selection even underscored how he has the power to seize what he wants from his most powerful subordinates – something the president pointed out to the top people who report to him. Other selections reveal a more superficial appreciation for something as basic as a wood picture frame. 'I picked it all myself. I'm very proud of it,' Trump said. The president couldn't help but give a visual tour of the redesign during a televised cabinet meeting Tuesday that ran well over an hour, and shared personal observations about each of the hand-picked items. Some had gone unused for a century, he claimed. He said he personally rummaged through a White House 'vault' with curators to select new works, comparing himself to one former president who oversaw the largest expansion of territory in the nation's history. An aide said there was no set date for the redo, with Trump redesigning on a 'daily basis.' 'You know, we spent a lot of time, effort – very little money – on this room,' Trump told his team at a meeting where he railed on Vladimir Putin and crowed about new tariff letters he said would bring billions in revenue to the country. 'This is called the Cabinet Room. It's been here for a long time, and it had some pictures that were ... not many of them and not very good ones. And I actually spent time in the vaults.' Some of Trump's most revealing comments came while discussing a portrait of former President James K. Polk – who presided over the U.S.-Mexican war and was able to seize massive U.S. territory. Polk is among the pro-imperialism president who have drawn middling reviews from historians, although he often earns points for setting out his his goals during the campaign and stepping back after achieving them in office. Trump, a former real estate developer, set his sights on acquiring Greenland and making Canada the 51st state immediately after the November elections. 'That's a gentleman named and we call him President Polk. He was sort of a real estate guy,' Trump said. 'He was – people don't realize he was one of them. He was a one-termer, but he was a very good president. But, and I'm not sure I should be doing this, he actually gave us the state of California,' Trump said. Trump's real estate comment appeared to be a sly comment on the land grab, as Polk was professionally what these days might be called a career politician. But there were reasons besides massive territorial acquisition why Trump picked the portrait – having to do with how the 11th president was framed. 'I'm not sure – maybe he won't be there for long,' Trump joked, earning laughs from his team while talking about a state where he deployed U.S. Marines amid street protests and Gov. Gavin Newsom has been a top critic. 'If you notice, the frame is the exact same size almost as the other one is, Andrew Jackson. So that was a part of the reason, too, I have to be honest,' Trump allowed. 'But Polk is actually a very good president who's got the same frame that I needed.' Trump also selected a painting of President Dwight Eisenhower, whom he called a 'very underrated president.' It wasn't just the Interstate Highway System that Trump pointed out when hailing the Army General who was the as Supreme Commander of the Allies during World War II. 'He was the toughest president, I guess, until we came along,' Trump said. 'He was the toughest president on immigration. He he was very strong at the borders. Very, very strong. And sometimes he could be too strong.' He was likely referencing the 'Operation Wetback' overseen by Eisenhower, which was the largest mass deportation of undocumented migrants in history. 'And during a certain period of time, they were so strong that almost every farmer in California went bankrupt. We have to remember that,' Trump added, days after making comments calling for exceptions for farmworkers and hospitality workers amid his own mass deportation. Trump also evinced enthusiasm for a portrait of a young Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the former governor of the state Trump left to reside in Florida. 'This is very exciting to me. He was not a Republican, to put it mildly, but he was, you know, four-termer,' said Trump, whose allies have spoken about ways to get around the Constitution for a third term. Trump also pointed out the ramps put in to accommodate the wheelchair-bound FDR. 'He was an amazing man. It's an amazing portrait,' Trump said. But he complained that a prior portrait in the room was a 'terrible portrait.' 'It was almost like it was done by a child. And I used to say, you know, I can't believe that he would have approved of that portrait of himself.' This is something Trump knows something about, having recently complained so forcefully about a portrait of himself in the Colorado state house that state Republican leaders immediately took it down and installed a new one. Another portrait he selected is of a Republican national hero. But the best one, to Trump's tase, was already in use in the Lincoln Bedroom. It sat there 'for many, many years,' Trump said. 'That was his favorite picture of himself. And the Lincoln Bedroom is very famous. You remember when Bill Clinton had it and he rented it out to people?' he said, taking a shot at another predecessor over a 90s scandal of letting top donors stay there. 'I said, I have to give it up, because that's one of the greatest pictures of the White House.' Trump even dwelt on his own personality and obsessions with framing. 'It doesn't work if you have, I want to be nice, but it doesn't work if you have a big frame, a little frame of you – but it's like perfection. I'm a perfectionist,' he said. 'Look at those frames. You know, I'm a frame person. Sometimes I like frames more than I like the pictures,' Trump said. He said some of the items 'sat in the vaults for over 100 years. He brought up china, silverware, and so-called trophyware. But there was one item Trump just had to have. It was an antique grandfather clock. It previously resided in the State Department, he said, which under the control of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump also named his national security advisor after forcing out predecessor Mike Waltz. 'It's really become quite a beautiful place. I don't want to tell this, though Marco pointed it out. I was going to leave the clock. So as president, you have the power – if I go into the State Department or Department of Commerce or Treasury, if I see anything that I like, I'm allowed to take it.' 'So I'm in Marco's [office]... , I see this gorgeous clock, grandfather clock. I said, Marco ...' Trump said, to more laughs. 'I said, Marco, I love this clock. Look at it. It's beautiful. He said, "What clock?"' 'The clock that's in the other room is incredible, and nobody gets to see it there,' Trump recounted. 'Marco – I tried to talk him into it first, and it sort of worked. And then I had to use a little more ...' 'I'd love to take that clock out and put it in the Cabinet Room. He said, "No, are you serious?" I said, Marco, I have the right to do it. He said, "what the hell."' It doesn't take a top diplomat to predict how the matter was going to turn out. 'Marco: that's his contribution to the Cabinet Room,' Trump said. That Cabinet Room came to be during a 1902 addition of the West Wing. President Richard Nixon gifted its oval mahogany table. Other presidents have also given it personal touches. President George W. Bush gave it busts of Washington and Franklin and portraits of Teddy Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Eisenhower, and Washington.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'I said, ‘Marco, I have the right to do it,'' Trump boasted after commandeering an item from Rubio's office.
President Donald Trump has gone on a back-slapping victory lap after stealing a clock from his secretary of state, Marco Rubio. During a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the president found time between issues such as Gaza and global tariffs to boast about his proposed redesign of the Cabinet Room in the White House. This mainly involves splashing gold leaf around the place to make it look like his Florida residence, Mar-A-Lago. Even still, Trump proudly pointed out the tweaks he had already made, drawing attention to the portraits of past presidents that he retrieved from the vault to hang in the room. 'I picked it all myself. I'm very proud of it,' he said.
