President Donald Trump has moved to shield the Oval Office from future renovations, signing a proclamation on Thursday that designates the room and the Cabinet Room as national monuments. The decision follows Republican midterm losses and places new limits on how future presidents may alter the spaces.
Donald Trump wants to declare the Oval Office a national monument
Trump signed the proclamation in the Oval Office and immediately framed it as a safeguard against future changes. “We’re going to be declaring it a national monument, and we’re going to send it over to Congress to have it ratified,” he told reporters. “It won’t be able to be taken down, destroyed, touched or anything else.”
The proclamation directs Congress to ratify the designation and requires lawmakers to approve any “major modifications” to the Oval Office and Cabinet Room. Trump said he hopes “the people in Congress will be smart enough not to let that happen.”
The White House has carried the status of a U.S. National Historic Landmark since 1960. Trump’s proclamation argues that “the Oval Office merits specific recognition and protective management as a discrete historic structure of national significance.” The text still permits future presidents to “redecorate,” “select furnishings, or make ordinary operational and security modifications,” provided those actions do not “substantially impair the monument’s historic structure or architectural character.”
The signing came one day after Trump addressed reporters at the construction site of a new White House ballroom. That project involved demolishing the historic East Wing and drew criticism from preservation groups. The Oval Office, by contrast, usually receives cosmetic updates with each new administration. Trump redecorated it last year with extensive gold detailing.
So, Donald Trump used the ceremony to promote his record, saying, “It’s been a tremendous two years. I don’t think there’s ever been a president that’s done more.” He also conceded, “I mean, there’s been some mistakes, too,” without offering specifics. Monday’s campaign speech had likewise centered on his renovation work, including the reopening of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after what he described as botched upgrades.
