Trump’s Grand Mar-a-Lago-Inspired Renovation Plans for the White House: ‘Igniting My Real Estate Passion’

When he isn’t occupied with concluding wars, deporting undocumented immigrants, reforming the federal government, and reshaping global trade, the president has ambitious plans for issues closer to home.

Donald Trump, the real estate mogul, is breaking free from political constraints to glamorize the Oval Office and reinvent the White House.

From envisioning a “beautiful, magnificent” new ballroom to covering the Rose Garden to establish a welcoming terrace reminiscent of Mar-a-Lago, the 45th-turned-47th president is eager to leave his mark on the White House this time around.

“It keeps my real estate instincts sharp,” he remarked to a reporter recently.

Just last week, after announcing a halt on reciprocal tariffs, Trump took a personal interest in rearranging presidential portraits in the grand entrance hall of the White House.

As he is serving non-consecutive presidential terms, he has the privilege of displaying two official portraits in the White House and has been considering four or five traditional pieces in muted colors created by official artists. This includes one particularly striking painting where he appears fierce, leaning against the Resolute desk.

However, he opted for a temporary artistic piece in the grand foyer last week: a vibrant painting of himself after last year’s assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., depicting his bloodied face and raised fist, which he believes could have influenced the election outcome.

This bold painting will remain in the foyer for two to three months before being substituted with a more traditional portrait. It took the place of a modern-style portrait of Barack Obama, which was relocated across the hall to replace a portrait of George W. Bush. Bush’s portrait was then moved to the stairway leading to the private residence, allowing it to hang alongside his father’s, a nice gesture as the Bush family is scheduled to visit the White House for a summer event.

Maintaining Obama’s portrait in a prominent position in the foyer was partly motivated because its contemporary frame complements the new Trump portrait, but also, judging by Trump’s amiable interactions with Obama at Jimmy Carter’s state funeral in January, he appears to prefer Obama over Bush, whose presidency he often dismisses as “failed,” citing the $8 trillion spent on Middle Eastern interventions that resulted in nothing but “death and destruction.”

Moreover, Trump has instructed the relocation of a large painting of Abraham Lincoln from its lesser-known position in the stairway to the cross hall, where it will replace a portrait of Bill Clinton, which will find a more suitable location.

Department of Interior Design

The destination of the Joe Biden presidential portrait once it’s done remains uncertain, but it’s hard to ignore the jibe that it belongs in the basement, or that it may feature a horizontal layout to match his notorious lounging on a beach chair.

The most significant change Trump has made to the White House to date is in the Oval Office, where he continually introduces more golden accents, many of which he brings in from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

The gilding of his office commenced with seven golden urns adorning the mantle, replacing the faux shrubbery left by Biden.

Following this, he added gilded cherubs above the doorways, ornate floral gold leaf appliques to the mantel frieze and walls, Rococo mirrors decorated in gold hanging on doors, and side tables featuring golden eagles at their bases. The lamps also feature gold accents, and on the president’s desk sits a sizable golden trophy from the FIFA World Cup.

He intends to apply gold leaf to the cornice moldings next, having stripped them back and readied them for painting.

The room already appears far more vibrant and glamorous compared to its state under Biden.

A chandelier might be on the decorating agenda, although the center of the ceiling is embellished with a historic plaster molding of an eagle, which could necessitate two chandeliers alongside each other.

Trump has quadrupled the number of gilt-framed presidential portraits on the curved walls to 20, expanding from Biden’s five, with Lincoln prominently positioned above the fireplace and Ronald Reagan featured near the Resolute desk, making it the first to catch visitors’ eyes.

There will also be room for a portrait of one of Trump’s favorite predecessors, William McKinley, as soon as an appropriate one can be located. The 25th U.S. president, in office from 1897 to 1901, was the original “tariff guy,” whom Trump has praised as a “natural businessman [who] enriched our country through tariffs.”

Additionally, Trump has included a historical copy of the Declaration of Independence, which hangs behind a blue velvet curtain to protect it from damage caused by sunlight streaming through the French doors.

A large map of the newly designated “Gulf of America” also stands on an easel behind the president’s desk when he’s seated.

Those fashion authorities on “The View” are already criticizing Trump’s ostentatious tastes.

“He believes he’s the interior decorator in chief now,” mocked Joy Behar, whose Sag Harbor decor leans towards rattan mats and stark white couches.

Her co-host, Alyssa Farah Griffin, who prefers beige and brown tones in her Bronxville decor, derided Trump’s aesthetic as “somewhere between Pablo Escobar and Liberace. He has an affinity for gold tchotchkes.”

Yet Trump remains unfazed. Despite the barrage of criticism that follows his every initiative, he plans to cover the grass area of the Rose Garden, located just outside his office, where he frequently holds press conferences.

Party Leader

While the grass is lush, it is often damp, and he worries about women’s heels getting caught, as recently happened to his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. He intends to match the white limestone around the edges leftover from First Lady Melania Trump’s earlier elegant redesign and create a space surrounded by hedges of red tulips and white roses, reminiscent of the golden terrace at Mar-a-Lago.

His vision includes something akin to a welcoming private club for him to entertain members of Congress and other guests.

He admires the pastoral view from the Oval Office’s verandah and is keenly interested in the upkeep managed by the National Park Service.

Recently, he made the decision, which his less daring predecessors had sidestepped, to cut down the historic 200-year-old “Andrew Jackson magnolia,” as it was decaying and held up by wires.

“The unfortunate reality is that all things must conclude, and this tree is in a terrible state, posing a significant safety hazard at the White House entrance, and must therefore be removed,” he announced on Truth Social, before ordering the planting of a new sapling, a direct descendant of the original tree.

Perhaps the most significant alteration that Trump envisions for the White House is the construction of a grand ballroom. It will be accessible through doors in the East Room, the largest space in the house at present, but which Trump deems insufficient for large events.

He has frequently ridiculed Obama and Biden for hosting state dinners in tents on the South Lawn.

“When a foreign leader visits… they should not be in a tent,” he asserted.

Golden Age

Previously, he proposed building a 160-foot-long ballroom and covering the $100 million expense himself, but despite reaching out to “top individuals” in the Biden administration several times, he received no response.

“I excel at constructing ballrooms,” he stated during a February reception in the East Room. “I create beautiful ballrooms… similar to what I have at Mar-a-Lago, as magnificent as possible.”

He further noted, “I extended the offer to the Biden administration, a very proactive administration, but I didn’t receive a response [so] I’ll attempt to propose it to myself… because we genuinely require a larger space… I believe we’ve outgrown the tent approach.”

He has architects developing plans that align with the White House’s Georgian architecture, which he greatly admires, frequently calling it the most beautiful building in the world.

The interior will likely draw inspiration from the Donald J. Trump Grand Ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, which spans 20,000 square feet and dazzles with extravagant chandeliers and $7 million worth of gold leaf embellishing its walls.

“I possess more gold in that ballroom than anyone has ever had in a ballroom before,” he proudly claimed earlier this year.

In contrast to his former property development endeavors, there is no zoning authority Trump must navigate to construct the new two-story wing intended to contain the ballroom.

As president, he has the freedom to build whatever he desires, a power that certainly excites him.

With a vision for history, Trump the builder aims to bequeath a redesigned White House to the American people that reflects the greatness he is committed to restoring.