Trump makes Oval Office a national monument, but future presidents can still redecorate

U.S. President Donald Trump does not want his successors to touch the Oval Office.

According to the Associated Press (AP), he signed a proclamation on Thursday that stated he would preserve the Oval Office and Cabinet Room as a national monument.

This was his first official action since the Republicans’ heavy losses in the midterm elections on Nov. 3.

The Guardian reported that Trump announced that the rooms would not be "ripped down by stupid people", and that it would be left "as it is".

“If they want to say, ‘Let’s not have oval anymore, let’s make it square,’ what happens is they have to go back to Congress and hopefully the Congress, the people in Congress, will be smart enough not to let that happen,” he said, according to AP.

The proclamation says it does not restrict the president’s authority to redecorate, select furnishings or make ordinary operational and security changes, as long as these do not “substantially impair” the rooms’ historic structure or architectural character.

That means future presidents can still restyle the rooms too, AP noted.

Future presidents could also try to reverse it. CBS News noted that Trump himself has reversed national monument designations made by his predecessors.

The Oval Office is the working office of the U.S. President, while the Cabinet Room is, as the name suggests, the meeting room in which the U.S. Cabinet convenes.

Monument?

The proclamation states that the Oval Office "merits specific recognition and protective management as a discrete historic structure of national significance", and that it is in the "public interest" of the U.S. to preserve it as a national monument. 

It also makes provisions for Trump to continue redecorating the rooms provided he does not "substantially impair" their historic and architectural character.

Trump has made several luxurious redesigns of the Oval Office, most notably adding gold accents to several furnishings, which prompted former president Barack Obama to remark that "he's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory. Just gold everywhere."

His redesigns include adding gold portrait frames and gold wall decor.

No mention of the loss

Curiously, Trump did not comment on the results of the midterm elections.

The historic Democratic win saw the party projected to take control of both the House and the Senate.

Obama said the American public had sent a “clear message”, and credited Democratic candidates who won in areas “once considered long shots”.

U.S. Vice-President JD Vance blamed the results on the Iran War, in a rare display of critique towards his own party.

While Trump was signing the proclamation, a red cap with “VETO” in white letters sat on the Oval Office desk, a hint of what may come. Trump previously said he was ready to use his veto powers to block legislation from the Democrats.

Trump previously threatened to use his veto powers to shut down Democrats from passing legislation in Congress.