JD Vance told USA TODAY the Oval Office was “kind of dark and gloomy” before President Trump gave it a gold-heavy makeover.
Vance says son loves Trump’s golden Oval Office in exclusive interview
In an exclusive interview, Vice President JD Vance shares how his son is dazzled by President Donald Trump’s golden Oval Office redesign.
President Donald Trump’s golden overhaul of the Oval Office is kid-approved.
In this case, the kid happens to be Vice President JD Vance’s 5-year-old son Vivek.
“His favorite color is gold. And whenever he walks into the Oval Office, he’s just blown away by it because it does have this bright, lively feel,” Vance said in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY on Aug. 27.
“And I think it’s fitting for, again, the place where the leader of the free world comes to work every day,” added Vance.
Watch the full interview of USA TODAY’s exclusive with JD Vance here:
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Trump’s sure to endorse Vivek’s favorite color.
Trump has undertaken a major overhaul of the Oval Office since taking office in January. He’s added many golden accents to the room, including gold-colored appliqués on the fireplace, gilded mirrors and ornate Rococo-style 18th and 19th century dessert stands and flower vases on the mantle place. The paintings of former presidents are framed in heavily ornate gold.
Gilt on the gloom
Vance said he was “overwhelmed” by the grandeur of the office and the history that had been made there when he first visited the Oval Office after he and Trump took office.
“But if I was being honest, it was the middle winter, the drapes were closed. It was very dark,” Vance said, in a wide-ranging interview that covered topics including his televised spat with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce engagement, and the president’s controversial efforts to oust a Federal Reserve governor. “It had kind of a dark and gloomy feeling. This is the workplace of the leader of the free world. It should be a little brighter.”
Trump’s makeover of the White House has extended beyond the Oval Office. He’s paved over the Rose Garden lawn with white stone. And he’s adding a 90,000-square-foot ballroom in the East Wing.
Vance credited his boss’s penchant for renovation to his real estate background.
He said the president “obviously has his very distinctive style, and he’s made billions of dollars building beautiful buildings all over the world.”
“What I really like about the Oval Office is that it’s brighter,” he said.
Francesca Chambers and Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy are White House correspondents for USA TODAY.