Donald Trump had plans for even more major refurbishment to the Oval Office before White House aides killed the idea, a new book has claimed.
The president had planned to hang a chandelier in the historic room, right through the center of the U.S. crest in the center of the ceiling, though the endeavor was later deemed structurally unsound.
Since returning to office, the president has already undertaken a string of renovations at the White House to make the world-famous building more in keeping with his personal taste, many of which have prompted fierce criticism online and from his opponents.
Major changes have included paving over Jackie Kennedy’s Rose Garden and the partial demolition of the East Wing to make way for a $300 million ballroom.
In his new book Revolution of Common Sense: How Donald Trump Stormed Washington and Fought for Western Civilization, GOP strategist Scott Jennings recalled how Trump also had plans for the Oval Office – built by President William Taft in 1909.
“‘I’m thinking of putting a chandelier in here,’ Trump then said, still seated behind his desk. ‘Right through the shield there on the ceiling,’” Jennings wrote in an excerpt published by The Daily Mail.
”’If there’s any room that needs a chandelier, it’s this one. What do you think, Scott?’”
Jennings told the president that such a fixture would “come in handy at night,” but noted that the Oval Office was usually “awash with sunlight.” “I wasn’t quite sure that it needed any more lighting fixtures, but I thought to myself if anyone knows where to put a chandelier, it is this man,” he wrote.
However, according to Jennings, White House staff later investigated the possibility of hanging a chandelier in the center of the office, but concluded that the ceiling could not hold the weight.
Elsewhere in the book, Jennings suggests Trump’s sweeping renovations as a metaphor for his governing style – “adding new elements at such a rapid pace that hardly anyone can keep up.”
“It’s clear that he has a vision for what he wants, and it is up to the rest of us to figure it out and embrace it,” Jennings wrote.
Though his dreams of a fancy lighting fixture may not have been permitted, Trump has already made additions to the decorations inside the Oval Office, which now features new gilded accents, from the ceiling’s crown molding to the side table lamps.
Every detail has seemingly been transformed with gold – even the fireplace screen. Portraits of famous Americans hanging in the iconic space have had their frames swapped from wood to intricate gilded ones, CNN reported.
