MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Ok, so at the Education Department and beyond, much has been made of the way President Trump is seeking to remake the federal government. He has also been hard at work redesigning the aesthetic of the Oval Office. Well, we do not call this show ALL THINGS CONSIDERED for nothing, and so I have asked NPR's senior White House correspondent, Tamara Keith, to talk us through Trump's revamped interior design. Hi, Tam.
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: I'm here for you.
KELLY: (Laughter) I am glad you are up for the assignment. Let's start by noting, all presidents change the Oval Office. They personalize it. They bring in one portrait, swap out the rug, bring in a new one. What has President Trump done with the place?
KEITH: More portraits, more statues, more gold, and he keeps adding to it. I've been carefully analyzing photos and video of the Oval Office to make sure I'm not missing anything. And, as you say, there are always presidential portraits, but Trump is going for more of a gallery wall look. They are everywhere, mostly in golden frames.
And a notable one is President James Polk, a one-term president from the mid-1800s who oversaw the largest territorial expansion in American history. That, of course, fits with President Trump's modern manifest destiny talk of acquiring Greenland and making Canada America's 51st state. Just this week, he also added a new feature - a copy of the Declaration of Independence, shrouded behind a navy blue curtain to protect it from the light.
KELLY: Go back to the gold. How much gold are we talking here?
KEITH: Well, President Trump has added golden accents to features of the room where there were just - there was just white plaster before. There are a pair of golden ornaments affixed to the marble face of the fireplace he sits at when he's with world leaders. There's a FIFA World Cup trophy on a table next to his desk. That trophy is gold and a giant orb. He has added two side tables that appear to be held up by golden eagles. There's a row of gold ornaments that look kind of like trophies resting on the fireplace. And he even has golden Trump 47 coasters. Earlier this week, President Trump gave an Oval Office tour to Fox News host Laura Ingraham, and she noted all the new gold accents, to which he responded...
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: 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.
LAURA INGRAHAM: Can't do it.
TRUMP: You've never been able - look at that. Look. You've never been able to match gold with gold paint. That's why it's gold.
KEITH: The Trump brand is synonymous with over-the-top golden opulence, so Trump's version of the Oval is very on-brand. One thing that isn't gold is the wooden box on his desk with a red button. He told Ingraham people sometimes mistake it for the nuclear button, but it is actually just to summon a valet to bring Diet Coke.
KELLY: Brilliant. Love it. Go back to the fireplace and the gold items, which, I was noticing, replace an ivy plant that had been there for many years. Do we know what happened to the ivy?
KEITH: The Washington Post did a very extensive story on the missing ivy and found that it is being preserved in a greenhouse at the White House. But former White House employees from past administrations have taken clippings from it over the years, and so they have little Oval Office ivy plants growing in their homes all over the country. On the matter of plants, Trump says he wants to remove the grass from the rose garden and replace it with stone, so people's high heels don't sink in when it rains.
KELLY: I am sure the First Lady is grateful for that move. Anything else stand out to you about how Trump has reimagined the Oval Office?
KEITH: Well, at least some of his choices are about proving a point. He has an image of his mugshot from when he was booked on election interference charges in Georgia. The frame is gold. He also has a map with the Gulf of America highlighted.
KELLY: NPR's Tamara Keith joining us today from the White House. Thanks for your reporting.
KEITH: You're welcome.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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