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Trump Designates Oval Office and Cabinet Room as National Monuments
Confirmed
In Short: President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Thursday to designate the Oval Office and Cabinet Room as national monuments, aiming to prevent future alterations without congressional approval.
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Thursday to designate the Oval Office and Cabinet Room as national monuments, aiming to prevent future alterations without congressional approval. The move comes after a midterm election defeat and amid criticism over his focus on White House projects.
"The Oval Office stands as one of the most recognizable and historically significant spaces in the United States," the proclamation reads, noting that the Oval Office merits specific recognition and protective management as a discrete historic structure of national significance.
Trump said the interior of the Cabinet Room, which serves as a meeting room for the president and his top advisers, is "pretty much the same" as before, but he also said it has been "substantially upgraded" and that he added new chandeliers.
Trump told reporters from the Oval Office, "It’s actually called a national monument. It’s a federal landmark. When completed … it'll make it impossible for anybody ever to destroy this incredible space."
"We're making it a national monument and it will not be allowed to be touched by anybody," Trump said, adding that major modifications to the Oval Office or Cabinet Room would require the approval of Congress.
The order also directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to develop and implement a management plan with relevant executive departments, agencies, and offices that prioritizes the preservation of the Oval Office.
Since returning to office in 2025, Trump has overseen numerous design changes to various rooms, including the Oval Office, where he has filled the wall space with portraits, a copy of the Declaration of Independence, and numerous golden accents.
The Arlington County Board in Virginia filed a lawsuit Thursday opposing the construction of the Triumphal Arch, becoming the first governmental body to take legal action against President Donald Trump's planned monument.
Trump cited national security concerns for the move but did not mention any specific threats in the post. The president said he had agreed to a request by the military to convert the planned triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery into a military complex capable of dispatching drones and allocating sharpshooter ammunition.
What's confirmed
- Fresh off a midterm election defeat, Trump signed a proclamation Thursday aiming to prevent future presidents from making major changes to the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room.
- President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Thursday designating the Oval Office, the Outer Oval Office and the Cabinet Room as a national monument and federal landmark, a move intended to preserve the spaces and prevent future administrations from altering them.
- In addition, aviation experts have raised concerns over safety hazards because of its adjacency to Reagan Washington National Airport while veterans have sued to block the arch contending it would block the historic view between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
What's still developing
- "impossible to knock down and change in any meaningful way."
- "So we're making it a national monument, and it will not be allowed to be touched by anybody, destroyed, ripped down by stupid people, in order to build something in a slightly different shape."
- "Decisions of profound national and international consequence have been made within its walls. It has hosted heads of state, shaped the daily conduct of the executive branch, and become a symbol of the American Presidency itself."
- "So if they want to say 'let's not have Oval anymore, let's make it square,' what happens is they have to go back to Congress," he said, per Reuters.
- The lawsuit says the National Park Service's “feverish pace toward construction” should be halted until proper steps are taken to make sure the process is following the law.
- “The National Park Service, the agency responsible for projects on national park land such as Memorial Circle, is proceeding full-speed toward ground-disturbing construction,” the lawsuit said.
- According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the 250-foot arch would not cause an aviation hazard to aircraft but would be required to have an eternal flame on top clearing a key airspace authorization for the monument which Trump proposed to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary.
- Trump's plan to build the arch has faced heavy criticism since its announcement for various reasons, including its location and the potential to obstruct views of other monuments in Washington.