Inside Trump’s revamped Oval Office: What has changed
From a secret button that calls a butler to personal tributes to his heroes, Donald Trump has given the world’s most famous office his unique touch.
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Donald Trump has brought his unique touches to his revamped Oval Office as he begins his self-described “golden age” second term.
It was a case of out with the old, in with the new, as the world’s most famous office space was given an overhaul for its new occupant.
The 19th century Resolute Desk, used by multiple US presidents over the years including John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, has again been Trumpified with the restoration of the current White House incumbent’s famed red Diet Coke button.
The famously teetotal Mr Trump uses the button to summon a butler bearing an icy cold glass of his favourite drink.
The desk contained a surprise for Mr Trump when he arrived for his first day as US President, with Joe Biden upholding a long-held tradition.
Mr Trump was asked by a journalist if he had received a letter from his predecessor, prompting Mr Trump to open the desk’s drawers.
He eventually found an envelope marked with a handwritten “47”. He held it up for cameras, joking, “Maybe we should all read it together.”
He then added that he would read the note privately before deciding whether to share its contents publicly.
Behind the Resolute Desk, family photos adorn the narrow desk, with black-and-white portraits of Mr Trump’s parents, Mary and Fred, visible as he signed his flurry of executive orders.
Also on show was a photograph that appeared to show Mr Trump and wife Melania in conversation while walking near the White House Rose Garden.
The US President has also returned to pride of place a bust of one of his heroes, wartime British prime minister Winston Churchill, which was removed by Joe Biden.
The bust of Martin Luther King junior remains as does the portrait of founding father Benjamin Franklin, which Mr Biden installed as a nod to his focus on science.
A fresh painting of Andrew Jackson, the seventh US president, has been sourced from the White House art collection and is now hanging near military flags for each service.
The military flags have been returned to the Oval Office after Mr Biden removed them.
Mr Trump has cited Jackson, an anti-establishment leader known as the People’s President, as one of his heroes and a reflection of himself.
Sitting under the painting of Jackson is a sculpture of a cowboy trying to tame a horse called “the Bronco Buster” by Frederic Remington, which also graced Mr Trump’s first Oval Office.
Large silver eagles, a favoured symbol of Mr Trump, are also on show.
A huge blue rug that was installed by Mr Biden has also been removed for a more neutral colour, as has a portrait of progressive hero president Franklin D. Roosevelt that was installed by Mr Biden.
Mr Trump also swapped out a bust of Robert F. Kennedy, the father of Trump appointee RFK Jr, which Mr Biden kept in a prominent spot near the fireplace.
Originally published as Inside Trump’s revamped Oval Office: What has changed
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