A new sign was spotted adorning the White House this week, prompting backlash from lawmakers who have noted that Donald Trump is quite literally gilding the White House during a government shutdown.
Trump has been remaking the White House in his own image with the recent dramatic demolition of the East Wing and active construction of a new ballroom, doing so with plenty of gold. Written in cursive gold script, a sign identifying the Oval Office is now affixed beside the office’s door.
These new changes are happening as the government shutdown is jeopardizing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap). The government will distribute just half of the benefits it normally does this month as a result.
“A: This sign looks like shit,” the Pennsylvania congressman Malcolm Kenyatta wrote in response to images of the new sign circulating on X and beyond. “B: 43 million Americans don’t have access to SNAP and are weeks away from health care costs exploding even more.”
Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware said of the signage: “I wish they would focus on helping struggling Americans, but this isn’t a good sign.”
Last month, the president’s demolition of the East Wing to build a $300m ballroom, amid what is now the longest government shutdown in US history, generated fierce outrage and controversy. A poll from the Washington Post, ABC News and Ipsos found that more than half of Americans disapproved of the effort.
Jared Moskowitz referenced the kerfuffle when commenting on the new Oval Office sign.
“Good, new signage means he won’t knock it down,” the Florida congressman said.
Meanwhile, Gavin Newsom’s office, riding a high after the decisive passage of Proposition 50, which the California governor argued was crucial to safeguard democracy and to push back against Trump’s agenda, poked fun at the new sign.
His social media team posted a doctored photo reading “Live, laugh, LOSE” rather than “the Oval Office”.
