Rapid changes in the Oval Office personalize President Trump's new management

As the world focused on Donald Trump's inauguration as president, White House decorators went back and forth through the halls of the iconic venue to make quick changes to the Oval Office and other areas to adapt them to the taste of their new tenant.

The Oval Office, the most prominent place in the White House, from where the president signs decrees, addresses the nation at critical moments and where he receives foreign dignitaries, was the first place to be renovated while the world was still watching how Donald Trump took office as president.

Changing the decoration chosen by the outgoing Joe Biden could not wait and before 3:00 pm local time the team had made the first changes, with a different view of the presidential office where the centerpiece rests: the Resolute desk, a piece carved in wood, donated in 1880 by Queen Victoria of England and around which cosmetic changes were made.

The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal had exclusive access to the Oval Office and the White House has shared the published images of the changes made with some before and after comparisons.

What stays and what changes

Trump's team kept some elements, which in some cases had lasted from his first term from 2017 to 2021, such as the wall tapestries, curtains, and a couple of paintings that his predecessor chose from the White House art collections.

However, some paintings with historical figures, as well as busts and other sculptures, underwent rapid change, according to the meanings of the characters for each leader.

In other spaces of the Oval Office with paintings and emblems, changes were made, such as returning the flags of each branch of the military service and portraits to the location four years ago. During Biden's administration, the flagpoles with the emblems had been removed, leaving a less crowded space.

Among the new pieces arriving at the Oval Office of the White House is a silver statuette of an eagle, the national bird of the United States, which arrives as part of the pieces chosen by President Trump's team to decorate the emblematic space. .

These changes in full swing are considered by the White House Historical Association as an “extraordinary effort” by the staff who, in a matter of hours, must change the view of the interior of the building, at the same time as the move of the outgoing president with the incoming simultaneously for a single day.

This operation could not be possible without an administrator in charge of the details of each element that enters and leaves the 5,100 square meter, six-story mansion, with an assigned staff of nearly 100 employees who until this Monday were in charge of Robert B. . Downing, who was selected by the previous presidential couple to manage the mansion.