U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media on board Air Force One on the way to Miami, Florida, U.S., April 12, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
A newly exposed detail about President Donald Trump's fussy approach to decorating the Oval Office "might, quietly, be among the most telling" things about him, according to a new piece from The i Paper, exposing his half-hearted approach to the presidency.
In the piece, published Tuesday, journalist James Ball highlighted a recent revelation from the book, Regime Change, which explores the turmoil and destruction behind the scenes of Trump's second term. In one earlier chapter, authors Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan revealed that White House staffers would frequently stumble upon the president gluing gold decorations and accents to parts of the Oval Office, an early example of his relentless drive to renovate the building to his own liking.
"Most renovations to a historic building owned by the American people are carefully planned over the course of months, if not years, to make sure they are faithful to its history, use appropriate materials and methods, and are considerate of future occupants," Ball explained. "Trump bothers with none of that. Instead, he does whatever appeals to his taste, such as covering over the Rose Garden with concrete to make a patio, and applying endless ornamentation elsewhere."
Ball argued further that a particular "pattern" can be seen throughout Trump's second term: he becomes impatient with a project or policy and, instead of waiting, barrels ahead with a different, haphazard attempt. Some examples include his alarming acceptance of a new airplane as a gift from Qatar instead of waiting on a new Air Force One model, or his decision to risk his entire tariff agenda on a legally dubious theory instead of waiting for Congress to implement it properly.
As a result, Ball continued, much of Trump's second-term initiatives have come off as slapdash and shoddy, the handiwork of a president "in a hurry."
"Trump’s entire persona was built on the television show The Apprentice, which portrayed him as a CEO who could make huge things happen, whether that was hiring and firing or overseeing major construction projects," Ball wrote. "Instead, America is being left to reckon with a President in a hurry, who seems to cut every corner and half-ass every task, only to be left with a bigger mess than he started with when the bodge job doesn’t work."
He concluded: "Trump’s half-a——d political legacy is becoming impossible for even his supporters to ignore. The MAGA coalition is fracturing as the midterms draw nearer and the search for his successor begins. People living in Trump’s buildings must surely be hoping he was more careful as a construction boss than he has been as a politician."