Barack Obama poked fun at his successor’s Oval Office redesign in a behind-the-scenes video that HBO posted. The former US president did so while touring a set built to resemble his own presidency before Donald Trump’s. It takes viewers into how the Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness finale episode featuring Obama and Larry David was made.
Barack Obama joked about Donald Trump’s White House makeover in newly released HBO footage
In the BTS video, Barack Obama steps onto a set built to match the Oval Office as it looked in 2014. He walks through the space and comments on how closely the crew recreated it, before shifting to what the set doesn’t include.
The former president first complimented the production team’s attention to detail. “Nice job on the recreation,” he said. He then noticed a small prop and remarked, “You even have the apples,” pointing to a bowl of fruit on display. He added that the room looked “fantastic.”
He then made the jab at Donald Trump. “Although,” Obama said, “I do want to point out—there’s no gold sign on the outside that says ‘Oval Office,'” drawing laughter from the crew. He followed with a joke: “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”
That comment referenced a real change Trump made after returning to office. The president had gold cursive letters installed outside the Oval Office in December to label its entrance. The addition was one piece of a larger redesign inside the White House, which added 24-karat gold-leaf trim to doorframes, ceilings, and decorative fixtures throughout the historic building.
Obama has raised objections to these renovations in the past. Speaking at a campaign rally in Virginia in November, he criticized Trump’s priorities, saying the latter stayed “focused on critical issues like paving over the Rose Garden so folks don’t get mud on their shoes. And gold-plating the Oval Office and building a $300 million ballroom (via The Guardian).” Trump has pushed back against that criticism. He claimed Washington, D.C. now looks “better than ever” since the renovations began.
