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LiberalArkie

(18,841 posts)
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 10:08 AM Saturday

Look What Donald Trump Has Done To The Oval Office

Aug 30, 2025, 08:00 AM EDT



For decades, every president has made the Oval Office his own.

John F. Kennedy specially chose a rug in Harvard crimson, although he did not live to see its installation. Richard Nixon’s office featured a navy rug with gold stars, accented by gold curtains. Jimmy Carter surrounded himself with warmer, more natural shades. George H.W. Bush opted for powder blue as both a floor and window treatment.

The presidents have chosen different sofas, different coffee tables, different books for the shelves, different knick-knacks for the tables and paintings for the walls.

But none have had the aesthetic impact of President Donald Trump.

Snip

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-oval-office-gold-gilding_n_68910956e4b06ab33893e975

56 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Look What Donald Trump Has Done To The Oval Office (Original Post) LiberalArkie Saturday OP
Looks like a tacky brothel, cheap clientel admired. n/t SheilaAnn Saturday #1
That has been my exact thought. A Russian Brothel LiberalArkie Saturday #3
Probably where Trump and Putin hold most of their meetings. Irish_Dem Saturday #7
I wonder if this is how the rooms at the island looked LiberalArkie Saturday #32
Good point. I wouldn't be surprised. Irish_Dem Saturday #39
I ran across a photo of Epstein's living room from a US Da photo and indeed it does look like this LiberalArkie Saturday #43
Jebus. It is a sexual fetish. Irish_Dem Saturday #44
bordello chic CatWoman Saturday #19
DNA will tell.. homegirl Saturday #38
Every single thing about "him" screams Look at Me!!! NoMoreRepugs Saturday #2
Classic narcissist. Irish_Dem Saturday #8
Even Gold Member had better taste despite saying "I LOVE GOLD!" ProudMNDemocrat Saturday #4
I chuckled at his UM neck tattoo. Prof. Toru Tanaka Saturday #11
The original. He loves GOLD and cheats at cards just like... Marcuse Saturday #22
Goldfinger also cheated at golf johnnyfins Saturday #33
True. Marcuse Saturday #47
I hope he's "gone" soon...I know, I keep repeating myself but it's true... wcmagumba Saturday #5
All that's missing are the gold plated garden gnomes and Elvis paintings on black velvet. Ping Tung Saturday #6
Yes, he needs garden gnomes but even velvet Elvis is too classy for t-rump, maybe the velvet card playing dogs... wcmagumba Saturday #12
The poker playing dog paintings are also too classy for Trump jmowreader Saturday #37
Definition of character. Marcuse Saturday #46
Every time I see this decor I think trump looks bipolar. Irish_Dem Saturday #9
The MAGAteers think it's elegant and classy ms liberty Saturday #10
Not bad really. 4th Saturday #13
When you're done using it for Russian mob money laundering. roamer65 Saturday #16
I seriously doubt Russians were involved. Not in that era. 4th Saturday #20
It was cited by the Treasury dept in 2014 for it. roamer65 Saturday #25
Oh, ye of little faith... littlemissmartypants Saturday #26
Ersonally. It's the guys on the couch that I find distasteful. mjvpi Saturday #14
And in the chairs tetedur Saturday #15
It's looks like the Palace of Versailles threw up on the Oval Office from carrying Liberace's love child. Uncle Joe Saturday #17
Looks quite a bit like Jeffrey Epstein's fireplace. Snarkoleptic Saturday #18
That is what I had been wondering. Is Trump mimicking his buddy Jeff LiberalArkie Saturday #34
Trump has brought the gilded age to the oval office. NT. andym Saturday #21
Remember the James Bond movie, Gold Finger ? Bigerhalf Saturday #23
Reminds me of Putin's palace Farmer-Rick Saturday #24
I want the next Democratic occupant... RT Atlanta Saturday #27
Smudge with sage. PAMod Saturday #31
"aesthetic impact"? CaptainTruth Saturday #28
Much better. 3catwoman3 Saturday #42
Thank you! I was hoping there would be some like-minded validation here. CaptainTruth Saturday #53
_ LudwigPastorius Saturday #29
Vandalism. eom PAMod Saturday #30
Where are the urinals? Oh wait, that's not the restroom. twodogsbarking Saturday #35
Tacky, even for someone born in Queens. NNadir Saturday #36
Where's the calf? moondust Saturday #40
Trump is The Golden Calf all by himself. There can be only one. Hekate Saturday #50
What I see is him putting value in the White House that like that plane he intends to leave with it? Brainfodder Saturday #41
He's a man who knows the cost of everything, and the value of none Hekate Saturday #49
If you compare the two photos, the biggest difference is Biden didn't share the oval office with two men Doodley Saturday #45
Bargain basement Rococo. Dictator chic. Surfaces that reflect -- he, Trump. Tasteless. Hekate Saturday #48
Nauseating and suffocating. Diamond_Dog Saturday #51
I'm shocked they aren't all wearing gold lame (won't let me type the accent above the e) suits. chowder66 Saturday #52
'Disturbing': Expert breaks down 'sheer garishness' of Trump's Oval Office makeover LetMyPeopleVote Saturday #54
I've never seen anything so tacky. It looks like a whore house. Vinca Saturday #55
Apparently there's a (well understood?) link between fascism and kitsch. LAS14 Saturday #56

Irish_Dem

(73,711 posts)
39. Good point. I wouldn't be surprised.
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 01:19 PM
Saturday

All those rich powerful men want a luxury spot to rape children.
They don't want some shady dump decor.

They want to feel special, important, rich.

LiberalArkie

(18,841 posts)
43. I ran across a photo of Epstein's living room from a US Da photo and indeed it does look like this
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 01:50 PM
Saturday

It is in this thread.

Irish_Dem

(73,711 posts)
44. Jebus. It is a sexual fetish.
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 02:06 PM
Saturday

Part of their serial rape protocol.

Surrounded by gold trash decor as they beat up and rape children.

This is why Trump tarts up his office in the WH.
Turns him on.

Prof. Toru Tanaka

(2,778 posts)
11. I chuckled at his UM neck tattoo.
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 11:06 AM
Saturday

I would have guessed he was a Michigan man but then it would have been a block “M”.

I know it’s part of the word album but that letter placement on his neck was perfect!

Ping Tung

(3,485 posts)
6. All that's missing are the gold plated garden gnomes and Elvis paintings on black velvet.
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 10:30 AM
Saturday
kitsch:

something of tawdry design, appearance, or content created to appeal to popular or undiscriminating taste.

wcmagumba

(4,632 posts)
12. Yes, he needs garden gnomes but even velvet Elvis is too classy for t-rump, maybe the velvet card playing dogs...
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 11:10 AM
Saturday

jmowreader

(52,638 posts)
37. The poker playing dog paintings are also too classy for Trump
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 01:12 PM
Saturday

What Trump wants is Jon McNaughton Trump-as-superhero giclees.

4th

(391 posts)
13. Not bad really.
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 11:14 AM
Saturday

Or at least not as bad as that casino in New Jersey he owned that went bankrupt.

How does one bankrupt a casino anyway?

4th

(391 posts)
20. I seriously doubt Russians were involved. Not in that era.
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 12:31 PM
Saturday

And I do not believe it was money laundering, just straight up plunder.

littlemissmartypants

(29,260 posts)
26. Oh, ye of little faith...
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 12:56 PM
Saturday

Some of us who lived and worked in NJ at the time may beg to differ.

Uncle Joe

(63,018 posts)
17. It's looks like the Palace of Versailles threw up on the Oval Office from carrying Liberace's love child.
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 11:51 AM
Saturday

Thanks for the thread LiberalArkie

Snarkoleptic

(6,186 posts)
18. Looks quite a bit like Jeffrey Epstein's fireplace.
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 11:56 AM
Saturday

Donnie is longing for the days when he could pedo around with Epstein.

Bigerhalf

(31 posts)
23. Remember the James Bond movie, Gold Finger ?
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 12:53 PM
Saturday

The theme song sticks in my mind.,,,,,, and fits perfectly.

Farmer-Rick

(12,003 posts)
24. Reminds me of Putin's palace
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 12:55 PM
Saturday

Little Putin has double gold eagles in every room. His bedroom and bathroom have as much gold as pedo Trump has in the oval office. Pedo Trump so wants to be like Putin he copies his weird decoration style.

RT Atlanta

(2,622 posts)
27. I want the next Democratic occupant...
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 12:56 PM
Saturday

to talk plainly and openly about having to fumigate the place (mix of Depends and stale McDonalds and 'old man smell') and removing the Saddam-aesthetic as an important gesture toward returning this place to 'the Peoples' House.'

CaptainTruth

(7,868 posts)
28. "aesthetic impact"?
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 12:57 PM
Saturday

Allow me to correct that last sentence:

"But none have defaced it with gaudy tacky tasteless two-bit dictator trashy decor as vile as President Donald Trump."

How's that?

Brainfodder

(7,689 posts)
41. What I see is him putting value in the White House that like that plane he intends to leave with it?
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 01:24 PM
Saturday

Crazy loon level greed!!!??!!

Hekate

(99,206 posts)
49. He's a man who knows the cost of everything, and the value of none
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 03:10 PM
Saturday

Can’t remember who I stole that from, but to them

Doodley

(11,271 posts)
45. If you compare the two photos, the biggest difference is Biden didn't share the oval office with two men
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 02:23 PM
Saturday

who despise him. One, Vance, who previously compared Trump to Hitler, and two, Rubio, who previously defined Trump as a conman. As they say, all that glitters isn't gold.

chowder66

(11,202 posts)
52. I'm shocked they aren't all wearing gold lame (won't let me type the accent above the e) suits.
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 03:33 PM
Saturday

LetMyPeopleVote

(168,991 posts)
54. 'Disturbing': Expert breaks down 'sheer garishness' of Trump's Oval Office makeover
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 04:09 PM
Saturday

trump has turned the Oval Office is a very tacky and ugly place.

'Disturbing': Expert breaks down 'sheer garishness' of Trump's Oval Office makeover https://twp.ai/4imrIl

Tuck The Frumpers (@realtuckfrumper.bsky.social) 2025-05-30T19:39:27.000Z

https://www.alternet.org/trump-oval-office-makeover

After his second term began, President Donald Trump redecorated the Oval Office with a gold-themed aesthetic similar to his Trump Tower penthouse and his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. One expert is noticing a distinct similarity between Trump's and that of a French monarch known for his over-the-top taste.

In a Friday essay for Slate, Grinnell College French professor David Harrison — who also leads an organization focused on studying France — observed how Trump is resembling Louis XIV (also known as "the Sun King&quot in his approach to the Oval Office and the White House. Harrison reminded readers that Trump sought to recreate at Mar-a-Lago the same "hall of mirrors" at the Palace of Versailles.

He named interior designer Angelo Donghia as the brains behind styling Trump's Manhattan residence in the same vein as Versailles, which he noted the Duke de Saint-Simon famously criticized as "a masterpiece in bad taste." And he opined that Trump's favored style would not be looked upon favorably by most Americans. However, the French expert went on to suggest that beyond its monarchistic aesthetic, Trump's approach to decorating the Oval Office could also be seen as a reflection of how he views power.

"Along with the anti-royalist sentiment that used to characterize U.S. politics, I always assumed that most Americans had no real stomach for the hubris and sheer garishness that defined the style and surroundings of France’s most famous king," Harrison wrote. "More disturbing, of course, than the president’s taste is the administration’s view of executive authority. This evokes the absolutist rhetoric of Louis XIV’s worst sycophants, which Saint-Simon despised ... Saint-Simon knew that when kings embrace their own flattery, they open themselves to manipulation, and the writer viewed Louis XIV as an illusory absolutist who was in fact controlled by fawning scoundrels."

Vinca

(52,611 posts)
55. I've never seen anything so tacky. It looks like a whore house.
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 04:19 PM
Saturday

He better have kept his tiny paws off the Resolute Desk. None of that faux gold crap on that.

LAS14

(15,301 posts)
56. Apparently there's a (well understood?) link between fascism and kitsch.
Sat Aug 30, 2025, 04:25 PM
Saturday

Michelle Goldberg was talking about it last night. Kitsch is simple, and fascism avoids complexity, subtlety, (I wish I could remember some of her other words.) Makes lots of sense.

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