Trump's Gold Oval Office Decor: Home Depot Theory
By: Natasha Jokic (BuzzFeed)
Cheap shit for a cheap man
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
DIY!
by Natasha Jokic
BuzzFeed Staff
- Link
Hot Topic Full coverage and conversation on Politics
By now, you've likely heard that Donald Trump has added a number of gold-colored touches to the Oval Office.
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images, Pool / Getty Images
Back in March, after noting the addition of a golden cherub from Mar-a-Largo, Trump said of the gold accents, "Throughout the years, people have tried to come up with a gold paint that would look like gold, and they've never been able to do it. You've never been able to match gold with gold paint, that's why it's gold."
Bloomberg / Bloomberg via Getty Images
In April, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had enlisted his "gold guy" to "add custom-made gold finishes to the Oval Office, including gilded carvings for the fireplace mantel and the molding that wraps around the most famous office in the world, administration officials said."
Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images
Here's the thing: Some people think that the accents can be found for sale at Home Depot. In May, Inside Edition noted that some social media sleuths had noted the resemblance between Trump's medallions and a polyurethane applique made by Ekena Millwork that retails for $58.07 at Home Depot.
Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images 
BuzzFeed TrendingHot TopicLet's chat about all things PoliticsSee our Politics Discussions
In its original form, the applique is factory primed in white, suggesting that some kind of gold paint or leaf was added. The theory has been back in conversation after the Instagram account Diet Prada reshared it yesterday.
Via homedepot.com, Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images
However, Trump has gone back and added even more gold accents than what we saw earlier this year. Just this week, Fox News published a piece describing the "gilded makeover," noting that a White House spokesperson said that the decor "is of the highest quality."
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Indeed, here's a before-and-after:
Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images, Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Again, some of the newer details appear to match another onlay made by Ekena Millwork, this time retailing for $30.79 at Home Depot.
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Indeed, you can see what appears to be a combination of the two in a recent photo from another wall in the office:
Bloomberg / Bloomberg via Getty Images
When BuzzFeed reached out to Ekena Millwork for comment, they replied, "We work with several design firms in DC that have worked on the White House and believe these could be our onlays."
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
They further suggested that another motif seen around the room could be their "Endurathane Abigail Onlay" paired with another flower. It retails for $24.48.
Via ekenamillwork.com, Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
So, what did the White House have to say? At time of publication, they had not responded to BuzzFeed's request for comment.
Trolling, taunting, spamming, and off topic comments may be removed at the discretion of group mods. NT members that are known plagiarists, repeat comments, or continue to disrupt/deflect the conversation risk having all of their comments deleted. Please remember to quote the person(s) to whom you are replying to preserve continuity of this seed. Any use of the phrase "Trump Derangement Syndrome" or the TDS acronym in a comment will be deleted. Any use of the term "Brandon", "Traitor Joe", or any variations thereof, when referring to President Biden, will be deleted. Right wing trolls can expect to have their irrelevant questions and comments deleted. Posting debunked lies will be subject to deletion. Use of the terms "leftist" or "lefty" will also be subject to deletion. ©
Tags
Who is online
84 visitors
You will need to go to the article to see the other images
In other words, you can make your own house look like shit in an affordable way.
I have to say I prefer the old decor. It was simple and tasteful. What is it that they say? Less is more?
IMO the gold would not be a good match for ketchup patches.
I totally agree, it was much better before Trump started messing with it.
I also think the stuff he put over the fireplace looks really crummy.
Agreed, I don't care for it and would not do it in my own house. But every President on coming into the office gets to redecorate the Oval Office within reason. Guess this was within reason.
Compared to all the other things going on, this is truly a minor issue to be concerned about.
I agree the tacky Rococo decor is, well, tacky. But then the whole point of Rococo decoration was to be ostentatiously tacky.
The traditional appliques were plaster castings with gold leaf applied. So, finding off-the-shelf molded blanks shouldn't be surprising. This really is how it has been done for centuries.
The odd thing about using Rococo decoration as a statement of power and wealth is that men during the Rococo period adopted fashions, grooming styles, and mannerisms would be considered extraordinarily effeminate today. A Rococo 'big wig' would not have been a manly man by today's standards.
Trump is trying to emulate the decor of The Robber Barons of the Gilded Age.
Have it your way, I don't give a shit. The Robber Barons didn't invent tacky, they copied it from European nobility.
All I am saying is Trump doesnt know rococo from Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Nerm, stop picking fights in my seed
Yet here you are.
I voted your comment up for "A Rococo 'big wig' would not have been a manly man by today's standards."
I shall say nothing else
It looks ridiculous. No surprise, though, considering the source.
It's a mirror image of himself
Orange, wrinkled and smelly? The "man" exudes revulsion !
Where is DOGE when you need them to stop the waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars?
Ripping out grass in the Rose Garden that had already been redone in his first term, only to spend a fortune on a limestone patio to look like it's a golf club.
Add the Trump Golden Ballroom being built supposedly with his funds and other donors but you know the taxpayer will be on the hook for a lot of this project.
His word means nothing, who pays to archive the plans for the American people, did we ever get to see the plans anywhere? Have they posted the name of the architect or the builders?
How are all the security agencies managing this new structure going forward? What is the maintenance costing $$$ the American people? It has to be maintained. Just because the building is supposedly paid for, there are other enormous costs to this addition.
The American people cannot tour the White House while this is going on. So taxpayers who planned a DC vacation have to skip a White House tour.
School children had their tours cancelled and no new tours at all for anyone for at least a year until Trump gets his golden ballroom.
This garbage is what MAGA voted for. Trump's hobbies.