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US Politics

Trump signs proclamation declaring Oval Office and Cabinet Room a national monument

Trump says it will bar future changes, but the order's text leaves a president free to redecorate, the AP reports.

Donald Trump in 2025
Donald Trump in 2025. Photo: Daniel Torok, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
14 news outlets reported this
Liberal7 outletsTrump's gilded redecorating, after a midterm defeatCenter4 outletsWhat the proclamation does and does not changeConservative3 outletsA protective designation preserving the Oval Office
Published 4 min read
Overview

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Thursday, Nov. 5, making the Oval Office, the Outer Oval Office and the Cabinet Room a national monument under the Antiquities Act. Trump said it would keep anyone from touching or destroying the rooms. He has filled the Oval Office itself with gold accents.

He also said the document would go to to be ratified and that major changes would need congressional approval. The text directs the Interior secretary to write a management plan. It also requires documentation, review and consideration of alternatives before the rooms are substantially altered or demolished.

It says nothing in it restricts the president's authority to redecorate or to make ordinary operational and security changes that do not substantially impair the historic structure. The Associated Press reports the action does not stop future presidents from restyling the office or from rolling back the proclamation, and that a congressional requirement is not in the text. The White House is already a National Historic Landmark.

The signing came two days after elections in which Democrats won control of Congress. It was Trump's third event of the week about his Washington building projects.

Three sides of the story

Liberal7 outlets

Trump's gilded redecorating, after a midterm defeat

ABC News says Trump "moves to make" the Oval Office a national monument, "fresh off a midterm election defeat." It reports that he indicated Congress would have to ratify the proclamation. Asked about the gold accents, he said a future president could remove them, but "very carefully."

The Guardian says Trump signed it to "try to prevent" changes. It sets the move beside the "Veto" cap on the Resolute Desk, Democrats' midterm gains, the $600m ballroom and Barack Obama's Cheesecake Factory joke. Yahoo News says the signing was Trump's third event of the week on his construction projects, which it describes as "largely unpopular with voters."

It lists the gold cherubs, figurines and mirrors he has added. The Independent presents it as an effort to stop anyone from changing his gold-covered office. It quotes Trump on a future occupant who might say "let's make it square," and recalls the East Wing demolition, the helipad and a planned arch.

Center4 outlets

What the proclamation does and does not change

The Seattle Times, running an AP report, headlines that Trump makes the Oval Office a national monument "But future presidents can still redecorate." It says the action does not stop a successor from restyling the office or rolling back the proclamation, and that Trump himself has reversed earlier monument designations. It also notes the congressional review Trump described is not in the text.

It quotes the proclamation on the president's authority to "redecorate the monument" and reports Sen. Richard Blumenthal's letters to ballroom donors. Newsweek calls it a move to make Trump's makeover permanent and quotes him: "No major modification without the approval of Congress." It adds that the White House already holds National Historic Landmark status, "raising questions" about what more the proclamation provides.

The Hill reports that Trump signed it seeking monument status for the two rooms and that he said Congress would have to ratify it. The Journal reports that he signed a proclamation that he said would designate the rooms as landmarks.

Conservative3 outlets

A protective designation preserving the Oval Office

Fox News headlines that Trump signs a proclamation "preventing changes" to the Oval Office and other rooms. It quotes him saying it will make it "impossible for anybody ever to destroy this incredible space." It places the signing two days after the midterms, within a series of appearances on White House construction, and mentions a proposed 250-foot arch and Kennedy Center proposals.

Just the News reports a designation under the Antiquities Act. It quotes the proclamation calling the Oval Office "one of the most recognizable and historically significant spaces" and says Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is directed to develop a management plan. It ties the order to Trump's push to beautify Washington, where a task force cleaned hundreds of graffiti sites and fixed over 2,300 light fixtures.

Its live item says the order "seeks to make" the rooms a monument. The Washington Times says Trump declared the Oval Office a monument, a move it says protects his renovations from being undone by successors.

Official statements
All sources: 15 articles from 14 outlets

Liberal (7)

Center (4)

Conservative (4)

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