Donald Trump Stole Melania's Furniture and Decor for His Separate White House Bedroom, New Book Claims

https://people.com/donald-trump-melania-separate-white-house-bedrooms-12006192

Donald Trump Stole Melania's Furniture and Decor for His Separate White House Bedroom, New Book Claims
'Regime Change' details the Trumps' unorthodox living situation at the White House, as well as the president's apparent competitiveness over who could have the better-decorated room
By Joseph Konig
Published on June 24, 2026 05:23PM EDT

A new book from New York Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan claims that upon returning to the White House for a second time last year, President Donald Trump got competitive with first lady Melania Trump over the decor of their respective, separate bedrooms.

“Trump would let his wife use the master bedroom, known inside the White House as Room 219, and its dressing room; the President took Room 220, next to the Yellow Oval,” Haberman and Swan write. “Once, when staff gently reminded the President that he was taking things from the Center Hall his wife had personally selected, he made clear he didn’t care.”

“He seemed almost to be competing with her — determined to have the better room,” the book claims. “The staff resorted to photographing potential substitutes and sending the images to Mrs. Trump for approval.”

In line with his long-time passion for gold and gilded design choices, Haberman and Swan report that Trump “wanted to spruce up his bedroom with gold and other flourishes” and sometimes carried objects he wanted in his bedroom himself.

Describing Donald as a “television addict,” the reporters write that he had three TV sets installed in his rooms, two in the bedroom and another in the bathroom — which they also note is fully carpeted.

The carpeted bathroom apparently caused staffers to grow worried about mold growth because the part by the shower was often "soaked through," the book says. “The solution was to lay a small piece of the same carpet — never an actual bath mat — over the larger one. Several of these pieces were kept in rotation, swapped out and dried,” the reporters add.

...