By Molly Goddard
8:53am PST, Jan 21, 2025
After Donald was
sworn into office at 12 p.m. EST in the Capitol rotunda, his aides gave
The Wall Street Journal a tour of the redecorated space.
"Trump's redecorated Oval Office includes a portrait of
Benjamin Franklin and a fresh
Andrew Jackson painting. A valet button that Trump famously used to order Diet Cokes was set up and ready to go. There are also new silver eagle figures over the fireplace on the mantel. Trump swapped out a bust of
Robert F. Kennedy," reporter
Annie Linskey explained of the overhaul.
When Joe, 82, first occupied the room in 2021, he removed the soda button. Donald also put the
Winston Churchill bust back in place which the Democratic leader tossed. Both the businessman and the former VP kept the statue of
Martin Luther King Jr.
Joe decided to not throw out Donald's gold curtains during his
administration. However, the former television star swapped the blue carpet for neutral-colored floor decor upon his arrival.
While Donald has his sugary vices, so does Joe. The Delaware native's plate of chocolate chip cookies, which was always placed on the coffee table right outside the room, has now been
replaced with fresh flowers and a gold paperweight that reads "Trump."
Mere hours after the overhaul, the native New Yorker vowed to get to work at the Resolute Desk as soon as possible.
"We're going to be going over to the beautiful Oval Office, one of the great offices in history, even if it wasn't beautiful, it's the Oval Office, but it is beautiful, and we love the Oval Office," Donald told his supporters during his rally speech at the Capitol One Arena after the inauguration.
"Wars
start and end there. Everything starts and ends at the Oval Office," he pointed out.
The Apprentice star and the former Senator met in the famed space in November 2024 after Donald secured his
election victory.
In usual tradition, Joe left Donald a note on the desk with the number "47" written on prior to the latter beginning his second stint in office. When asked by a reporter via
USA Today what the letter entailed, the controversial figure said, "Maybe we should all read it together."
"Maybe I'll read it first and then make that determination," Donald remarked.
In the letter President
Barack Obama left the entrepreneur when he first took office in 2017, he emphasized important details about the job.
"We are just temporary occupants of this office. That makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions — like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties — that our forebears fought and bled for," the Democratic leader, 63, penned to his successor.
Donald did, in fact, leave a letter for Joe. However, the contents have not been revealed.
