'Donald Trump has terrible taste!' Geoff Duncan slams gilded redecoration of White House
Duncan: I’m just going to say this: Donald Trump has terrible taste. His taste is absolutely gaudy. pic.twitter.com/xHcCUhdNNX
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 10, 2026
WASHINGTON, DC: Geoff Duncan, a former Republican Lt Governor of Georgia, blasted President Donald Trump's taste as "absolutely gaudy" while criticizing his White House projects and appetite for more gold-heavy decor.
Duncan contrasted Trump's aesthetic priorities with Americans' everyday expenses. He pointed directly to worries over groceries, gas and rent.
Duncan rips Trump's gaudy taste
"I'm just gonna say this out loud. Probably not popular in all circles. Donald Trump has terrible taste," Duncan said during an appearance on CNN's ‘NewsNight on Thursday, July 9.
"His taste is absolutely gaudy," the former Republican added, turning the criticism from Trump's personal style to the concerns he said Americans face around the country.
"And as you travel around the state of Georgia, you travel around the country, Americans are worried about groceries, gas, rent," Duncan said.
He then accused Trump of focusing instead on adding more gold inside the White House, saying the president is "trying to find a way to find more wall space in the White House to put 10 more pounds of gold."
Duncan also pointed to the planned White House ballroom as he criticized the scale of Trump's projects. "And by the way, the ballroom is not a minor restoration," he said, before referring to the columns and "all these other projects."
Trump oversees White House column restoration
Duncan's remarks came as the White House North Portico remained covered in significant scaffolding while workers rehabilitated its exterior columns at Trump's request, as per the CNN report, Thursday, July 9.
By Thursday afternoon, "workers had placed a drape over the scaffolding printed with an image of the columns,” it stated.
A White House official described the project as "standard restoration work" and "stone repair in the columns."
Trump defended the work while speaking to supporters in the Rose Garden on Monday, saying layers of old paint had been removed.
"We've taken about 150 years of paint off of the columns, and re-did them," Trump said, asking the crowd whether they had noticed the scaffolding.
He also questioned whether former President Joe Biden would have spotted problems with the columns.
"Do you think he walked in the office and said, 'I don't like the shape of the columns'? I don't think so, Biden," Trump said. "I don't like the shape of the columns — he didn't notice things like that."
President Trump ballroom plans fuel Duncan's criticism
The ballroom project cited by Duncan has expanded since Trump first announced plans for a new White House ballroom last year.
The proposals have grown to include a rooftop "drone port," an underground hospital and "top secret" military facilities, while the estimated price has doubled to $400 million, as per the BBC report.
Republicans have also “requested additional funds from Congress for security around the complex despite Trump's promises that the project would not cost taxpayers money,” the outlet reported.
Trump has said the ballroom is needed to "accommodate people for grand parties, State Visits" and more recently called it "vital for National Security."
When announcing the project last year, Trump said it would "go up quickly" and be "very much in keeping with the magnificent White House itself."
The administration later said the ballroom would provide about 90,000 square feet of "ornately designed and carefully crafted space" and seat 650 people.
After Trump announced in October that "ground has been broken," the entire East Wing, which had stood for more than 120 years, and the hallway connecting it to the main White House building were flattened within a couple of days, the report cited.
