Gold Rush: Trump's Design Touches Divide Opinion

In just seven extraordinary months, Donald Trump's administration has left an unprecedented mark on the United States.

- Jonathan Yerushalmy

From rewriting the rules of free trade to upending the norms of due process and challenging scientific orthodoxy, no corner of the country has remained untouched, including the president's own center of power: the Oval Office.

Leaning into his former career as a real estate developer and hotelier, the president has, in his own words, applied some "Trump touches" to the room's decor. The results have split opinions, with some calling the revamped office a symbol of a new US golden age while others have compared it to a wrestler's dressing room.

On a tour of the Oval Office in March, Trump was asked about the new gold details by a Fox News host. Describing the room as needing "a little life," he went on to explain how difficult it was to get gold paint to look like gold.

That apparent impediment did not hold back the president from continuing his refurbishments. Over the ensuing months, the "goldening" ratcheted up, with gold trimming across the ceiling, door frames, and fireplace. Even the sculpted cherubim inside the door frames were painted gold. The number of gold trophies and vases on the mantelpiece has multiplied, and there are even gold coasters with Trump's name on them.