Trump says he turned Oval Office into ‘Shangri-La’ but it’s starting to look a lot like Mar-a-Lago

Perhaps the easiest way to appreciate the transformation is to compare today's Oval Office with the room during Barack Obama's presidency. A photograph of Obama meeting then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shows a far simpler fireplace. The mantel was largely free of ornamental objects, greenery provided much of the decoration, and the wall above featured a single prominent portrait of George Washington. Trump's current arrangement is considerably busier. The same area is now packed with gold-colored objects and embellishments, while numerous portraits cover the surrounding walls. Gold ornamentation has also been added around the fireplace itself. Presidents routinely change the Oval Office's rugs, artwork, furniture and other decorative elements. Trump's changes, however, have gone beyond swapping paintings and upholstery, giving architectural surfaces themselves a markedly different appearance.

A closer look at the Oval Office makes the broader design connection even clearer. Trump has layered decoration onto decoration: patterned wallpaper, gilded frames, gold wall ornaments, elaborate fireplace details, decorative vessels and traditional furnishings all occupy the same field of vision. Mar-a-Lago takes that maximalism much further. Its grand interiors feature crystal chandeliers, gold-covered ceilings and moldings, marble floors, elaborate columns and richly ornamented walls. The comparison does not mean the Oval Office is becoming a replica of Trump's Florida home. But both spaces now speak a similar visual language—ornate, traditional and unapologetically gilded rather than minimalist.

The similarities are not confined to the Oval Office. Trump's revamped Rose Garden has traded much of its central lawn for a paved patio area filled with tables and yellow-and-white striped umbrellas. The resulting scene has an unexpected visual counterpart hundreds of miles south. At Mar-a-Lago's pool, rows of striking yellow-and-white striped umbrellas dot the terrace overlooking the Atlantic. Seen alongside photographs of the new Rose Garden setup, the resemblance is particularly noticeable. The settings serve completely different purposes, but the recurring palette gives the White House outdoor entertaining space something of the resort-like atmosphere long associated with Trump's Florida club.

The transformation is perhaps clearest around the Oval Office fireplace. Recent photographs show the mantel surrounded by an extraordinary concentration of gold-colored details. Ornate appliqués now decorate the wall and fireplace, while a collection of decorative vessels, urns and other objects stretches across the mantel. Above them, portraits in gilded frames cover much of the wall. Mar-a-Lago is famous for elaborate interiors featuring extensive gold ornamentation against pale walls, with intricate moldings, sconces, columns and decorative flourishes competing for attention. Viewed side by side, the two spaces are obviously very different in scale and history, but Trump's preference for white and cream surfaces heavily punctuated with gold is evident in both.

The comparison becomes even more interesting when attention turns to Mar-a-Lago's grand entertaining spaces. Its ornate ballroom is an exercise in maximalism: enormous crystal chandeliers, gilded detailing across the walls and ceiling, decorative columns and gold chairs fill the room. Trump's plans for the White House have similarly emphasized grand entertaining spaces and classical ornamentation, although the two properties have entirely different architectural histories and civic functions. Long before he returned to the White House, gold, chandeliers, elaborate moldings and conspicuous ornamentation were central elements of the spaces associated with his brand. Now, elements of that visual identity are increasingly apparent at the White House. And Trump's own description of the result may be the most revealing of all. “We turned it into Shangri-La.”