Trump declares his redesigned Oval Office a national monument
U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Thursday declaring the Oval Office and Cabinet room of the White House to be national monuments.
In week of midterm thumping, Trump holds 3rd event focused on a Washington renovation project
Mike Crawley · CBC News
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U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Thursday declaring the Oval Office and Cabinet room of the White House to be preserved as national monuments.
Trump said his proclamation will prevent future presidents from making major changes to the two White House rooms — which he has extensively redecorated since the start of his second term — without the approval of Congress.
"It will make it impossible for anybody ever to destroy this incredible space," he told reporters in the Oval Office. "It will not be allowed to be touched by anybody, destroyed, ripped down by stupid people."
Even though the White House is designated a National Historic Landmark, Trump has demolished its East Wing to build a new ballroom, paved over the Rose Garden and built a concrete helipad on the South Lawn, all since his return to the presidency last year and without Congressional approval.
In a week when Trump's Republican Party suffered a dramatic smackdown in the midterm elections, this was the third day in which the president has made one of his Washington, D.C. renovation projects the central subject of his media event.
On Wednesday, he took the White House press pool to the ballroom site and put his signature on a concrete beam.
Trump has overseen a gold-tinged redecoration of the Oval Office interior. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)
On Monday, the final day of the midterm campaign, he gave a speech to mark the conclusion of the problem-plagued renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Trump's declaration of the Oval Office and Cabinet room as national monuments was his first official presidential action since the midterm loss.
'Of great interest to me'
He called the move "something that is of great interest to me, but it's of great interest to a lot of people."
As Trump signed the proclamation, a red baseball cap with "VETO" in white letters sat on his desk. The U.S. president has the power to veto legislation that falls short of a two-thirds majority in either the House or the Senate.
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Analysis
What the Republican midterm defeat means for Trump, the U.S. and Canada
Trump's focus on renovations is raising questions about his political priorities, particularly in light of the drubbing the Republicans took in the midterms.
His Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress, only the third time that has happened to a sitting president's party during a midterm election in the past 80 years.
A view of the Oval Office on Jan. 20, 2021, the first day of then-president Joe Biden's term in office. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)
The Democratic Party flipped seven GOP Senate seats, including from deep red states such as Texas, Kansas and Iowa. The Democrats won at least 253 Congressional districts, putting them on track for the biggest House margin that any party has held since 1990.
Key Republicans have been quick to point fingers over the midterm loss.
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Texas Sen. Ted Cruz blamed the election loss on elected Republicans dismissing voters' concerns about the cost of living.
"Tariffs have made everything too expensive, and the Iran war has dragged on too long," Cruz said Wednesday on his podcast Verdict.
"Too many Republican politicians seem like they didn’t understand or they didn’t care,” he said.
Earlier Wednesday, U.S. Vice-President JD Vance blamed the results on the war in Iran, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Republican messaging didn't address the real concerns of voters.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mike Crawley is a correspondent for CBC News, based in Washington. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in B.C., spent six years as a freelance journalist in various parts of Africa, then joined the CBC in 2005. Mike reported on Ontario politics for 15 years. He was born and raised in Saint John, N.B.
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