President Trump’s White House renovations — from repaving the Rose Garden to gilding the Oval Office and demolishing the East Wing — have expanded into exterior displays that critics call partisan and misleading. A newly installed "Presidential Walk of Fame" and accompanying plaques have been reported to attack predecessors and include disputed claims. The press secretary said Mr. Trump wrote many of the plaque texts, prompting further criticism that the White House is being used for political spectacle rather than sober commemoration.
Trump’s White House Overhaul Slides Into Political Vandalism
President Donald Trump’s extensive changes to the White House this year have moved beyond decoration into partisan spectacle, critics say. What began with repaving the Rose Garden and adding gilded finishes in the Oval Office has escalated to more controversial alterations to the exterior and public spaces of the residence.
From Interior Makeovers to Exterior Displays
Mr. Trump has overseen a string of visible projects: repaving the Rose Garden, installing a prominent flagpole, removing tiles in a bathroom near the Lincoln Bedroom, adding a mirror and bronze lettering at the West Wing entrance, and converting the Oval Office study into a distribution point for "TRUMP 2028" merchandise. The administration also demolished the East Wing — despite earlier promises not to — to make way for a large ballroom critics describe as a vanity project.
The "Presidential Walk of Fame" and Controversial Plaques
In September the White House unveiled a so-called "Presidential Walk of Fame" along the south colonnade, displaying portraits of past presidents. The installation quickly drew ridicule when, for example, the space allocated for President Biden displayed a framed photograph of an autopen instead of his portrait.
Members of the media take photographs of framed portraits that are part of the "Presidential Walk of Fame" on the wall of the colonnade outside the Oval Office.(Getty Images)
Newer additions — bronze-hued plaques mounted beneath the portraits — provoked stronger criticism. NBC News reported that some of the panels attack former presidents, including Joe Biden and Barack Obama, and promote false or misleading claims about their administrations. The Washington Post noted that the plaques look like official historical markers in style but read, the paper said, "in the style of a Truth Social post." New York magazine called the overall installation "stunningly stupid."
Official Response
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News that President Trump wrote the text of "many" of the plaques. "The plaques are eloquently written descriptions of each president and the legacy they left behind," she said. "As a student of history, many were written directly by the president himself." Critics say the language appears partisan and diminishes the ostensible purpose of commemoration.
Why It Matters
Observers argue these installations turn a historic public building into a platform for political messaging and partisan mockery, blurring the line between presidential legacy and political theater. At a moment when the executive branch faces weighty domestic and international responsibilities, detractors say these displays represent an alarming fixation on spectacle and personal branding.
Reporting notes: Claims about misleading or false content on the plaques are reported by NBC News; stylistic comparisons were noted by The Washington Post; additional commentary from New York magazine is cited as critical reaction.
