Trump Finds New Part of White House to Deface

Brown paper seen taped along the wall of the White House’s West Colonnade on August 8. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

From paving over the Rose Garden to plotting the construction of a huge ballroom, Donald Trump has made renovating the White House his new hobby. But apparently, he is not content to simply sit in his Midas-like Oval Office and argue with his critics over whether the new look is gorgeous or “vulgar, gold leafed and gaudy,” as musician Jack White put it.

Jeanine Pirro, the former Fox News host who Trump appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, revealed on Wednesday that Trump is “redoing” the West Colonnade of the White House, adding a row of portraits in chunky gold frames. The first two appear to be of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, but it’s unclear if this will be a sort of “hall of presidents” or just space honoring various people Trump admires. (Also unclear: why the U.S. Attorney for D.C. was supervising the project.)

To give you an idea of the West Colonnade before and after, here’s a shot of Barack Obama using the unadorned walkway on January 12, 2016:

Photo: Alex Won/Getty Images

Obviously, there are worse things Trump could have put in this space, which connects the Executive Residence and the West Wing, like this garish painting of himself he just installed elsewhere in the White House:

But does the space adjacent to the Rose Garden really need artwork? Trump has already covered nearly every available inch of the Oval Office with portraits, and exterior house paintings are not a thing. It seems Trump’s broader vision is to make the White House more Mar-a-Lago-y, but it doesn’t appear that he plastered the outside of his own historic residence with paintings.

Photo: Mary Jordan/The Washington Post/Getty Images

All we can say is enjoy the White House while it’s still mostly covered in white paint, rather than Jon McNaughton murals.