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Donald Trump's gold-filled Oval Office.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Donald Trump hosts Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025 in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. Bin Salman was set for a visit and formal dinner.

Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images

  • US presidents have redecorated the Oval Office in different ways since it was first built in 1909.
  • Most presidents have sat at the Resolute Desk, but others brought in their own personal furniture.
  • President Donald Trump has added numerous gold embellishments to the Oval Office.

It's been nearly 100 years since the Oval Office was first built under President William Howard Taft. Throughout that time, US presidents have each made different design choices to redecorate the formal workspace.

Some presidents, like President George H.W. Bush, have brought in their own furniture to replace the Resolute Desk. Others, like President Donald Trump, have reinstated vintage Oval Office pieces while adding their own personal flair.

Take a look at how the Oval Office has changed through the years.

The first iteration of the Oval Office was built under President William Howard Taft in 1909 as part of an expansion of the West Wing.
President William Howard Taft in the Oval Office.
President William Howard Taft in the Oval Office.

B.M. Clinedinst/Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

Inspired by the White House's oval-shaped Blue Room, the president's formal workspace was designed by architect Nathan C. Wyeth.

Taft's Oval Office featured an olive-green color scheme.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt redesigned and moved the Oval Office as part of another West Wing expansion in 1934.
FDR in the Oval Office.
U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt at his Desk Oval Office White House Washington DC USA Harris & Ewing December 31 1934.

History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The Oval Office was moved to the southeast corner of the White House.

Roosevelt kept a variety of items on his desk, including photos of his sons, ceramic animal figurines, and an appointments easel with his daily schedule, according to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

President Harry Truman's Oval Office was the first to feature a rug with the presidential seal.
Harry Truman in the Oval Office.
US President Harry S Truman (1884 - 1972, centre, left) with his personal staff in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington DC, circa 1945.

FPG/Archive Photos/Getty Images

Truman decorated the Oval Office with the turquoise rug and matching curtains. The walls were painted a lighter seafoam green.

President John F. Kennedy was the first president to use the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.
The Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.
The Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.

Cecil W. Stoughton/White House Photo

The Resolute Desk, made of wood from the British ship H.M.S. Resolute, was gifted to President Rutherford B. Hayes by Queen Victoria in 1880. Previous presidents kept the desk in the second-floor office of the White House Residence and the Broadcast Room, according to the White House Historical Association.

President Lyndon Johnson replaced the Resolute Desk with his own desk, which he'd used as a US senator and vice president.
Lyndon Johnson in the Oval Office.
President Lyndon B. Johnson calls the Kennedy family after learning of Senator Robert Kennedy's assassination in June 1968. Lady Bird Johnson looks on. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Corbis via Getty Images

He also redecorated the Oval Office with white drapes with red trim, evoking the American flag.

President Richard Nixon chose bold hues of blue and yellow to decorate the Oval Office.
Richard Nixon's Oval Office.
Washington, D.C.: View of President Richard Nixon's office in the White House. The rug, designed by Mrs. Nixon, features the Presidential seal in gold in the center and golden stars around the edge, all on a field of flag blue.

Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

Nixon's Oval Office rug, in the same blue color as the American flag, was designed by first lady Pat Nixon.

President Gerald Ford changed the color scheme of the upholstery to burnt orange and khaki.
Gerald Ford in the Oval Office.
The second official portrait of President Gerald Ford, standing in the Oval Office. | Location: The Oval Office, The White House, Washington D.C. USA.

Historical/Corbis via Getty Images

Ford's decor included the wheel from the SS Mayaguez, an American container ship that was seized by Cambodian forces in 1975 and rescued at Ford's direction.

Ford also added a mahogany Seymour tall case clock in 1975.
The Oval Office in 1975.
The Oval Office in 1975.

Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

The clock, built between 1795 and 1805, has remained in the Oval Office under every subsequent president since 1975.

President Jimmy Carter brought the Resolute Desk back to the Oval Office.
Jimmy Carter in the Oval Office.
President Jimmy Carter in the White House's Oval Office.

Corbis via Getty Images

Otherwise, he left most of Ford's decor.

President Ronald Reagan redecorated the Oval Office during his second term with a rug designed by first lady Nancy Reagan.
Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office.
Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office.

HUM Images/HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The rug featured the presidential seal in the center with sunbeams emerging from the middle, surrounded by a border of olive branches.

President George H.W. Bush redid the Oval Office in shades of blue and gold and brought in the C&O desk that he used as vice president.
George HW Bush's Oval Office.
Elevated view of the White House's Oval Office, Washington DC, January 22, 1990. The room shows redecoration during the administration of President George HW Bush.

Susan Biddle/White House via CNP/Getty Images

The Resolute Desk was moved to the Residence Office.

President Bill Clinton chose Arkansas-based interior designer Kaki Hockersmith to give the Oval Office a new look.
Bill Clinton's Oval Office.
01/01 - SLUG: HM/OVAL OFFICE CAPTION: The Clinton's re-decorated the oval office. These are filers from 1993, as per Alice Kresse request.

BILL O'LEARY/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Hockersmith designed the yellow curtains and the blue rug with the presidential seal. Clinton also chose to bring the Resolute Desk back to the Oval Office.

First lady Laura Bush designed a new rug for President George W. Bush's Oval Office.
George W. Bush's Oval Office.
President George W. Bush hosting meeting in Oval Office of White House decorated w. new presidential rug. The rug, which is unique to the Bush administration, arrived earlier in the week and was unveiled to the media . Members from the Office of HomelandSecurity and other White House staff attended the meeting. The participants incl. (clockwise fr. bottom), President George W. Bush, Governor Tom Ridge, Condoleezza Rice, A dmiral Steve Abbot, Karen Hughes, Dean McGrath, Karl Rove, Albert Hawkins, Mitch Daniels, Josh Bolton, and Andy Card.

Greg Mathieson/Mai/Getty Images

The rug featured a sunbeam design with the presidential seal at its center, reminiscent of Reagan's rug, and a lone star in a nod to Bush's home state of Texas.

President Barack Obama added striped wallpaper and a new rug with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.
Barack Obama in the Oval Office.
President Barack Obama observes a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, in the Oval Office, April 22, 2013.

HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The quote on the border of the rug read, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.''

During his first term, President Donald Trump reinstalled Reagan's rug and added a portrait of President Andrew Jackson.
President Donald Trump in the Oval Office during his first term.
President Donald Trump in the Oval Office during his first term.

Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian

He also brought back Clinton's gold curtains and chose a new off-white wallpaper.

President Joe Biden brought back Clinton's Oval Office rug and added new portraits.
The Oval Office during Joe Biden's presidency.
WASHINGTON, DC - January 20: A view of the Resolute desk seen during an early preview of the redesigned Oval Office awaiting President Joseph Biden at the White House in Washington, DC.

Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Biden hung portraits of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton.

In his second non-consecutive term, Trump has made significant changes to the Oval Office, adding numerous gold embellishments.
Donald Trump's gold-filled Oval Office.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Donald Trump hosts Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025 in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. Bin Salman was set for a visit and formal dinner.

Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Many of the gold decor pieces in Trump's Oval Office came from the White House collection, but Trump also imported some statuettes from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

Trump also added flags representing different branches of the US military and additional presidential portraits, with President George Washington in the prominent center spot above the fireplace mantle.

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Photos show how US presidents have redecorated the Oval Office through the year…