Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lavished praise on Donald Trump’s bling-tastic overhaul of his uncle’s previously “drab” White House.
Speaking at the Making Health Technology Great Again meeting at the White House, Trump’s health secretary went off-script and started by discussing the “irrelevant” matter—interior design.
Photo Illustration by Eric Faison/The Daily Beast/Getty Images/Shutterstock
“I just want to begin by making a comment that is irrelevant to what we’re gathered here today to talk about—I’ve been coming to this building for 65 years, and I have to say that it’s never looked better,” RFK Jr. said, turning to President Trump.
Trump and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the Oval Office this month—Trump has transformed the space with gold ornamentation since returning to the White House. / Kent Nishimura / REUTERS
The crowd burst into applause as Trump patted him on the back.
Heartened by the response, he continued his almost two minutes of praise for the room’s facelift. “And I’ve spent some time in the Oval Office, which really has—it’s been transformed,” he gushed.
“I was looking at a picture of the Oval Office the other day, when I was there as a kid with my uncle, and it was extraordinary—it’s always extraordinary to go into that sacred space—but I have to say that it looked kind of drab in the pictures, and they’re black-and-white pictures, but it looked drab.”
President John F. Kennedy speaking during a press conference in 1963 in the Oval Office—his nephew said it was “drab.” / National Archives / Getty Images
“It looks the opposite of drab today,” he went on, urging the audience to study the portraits “hand-picked by the president—many of them hijacked from other agencies that were trying to keep them.”
Soon after moving in, Robert F. Kennedy’s aunt, Jacqueline, formed a Fine Arts Committee, hired the mansion’s first professional curator, and enlisted French decorator Stéphane Boudin and antiques adviser Henry du Pont to restore each room with period-correct furnishings.
The First Lady then proudly unveiled the transformed Blue, Red, Green, and Diplomatic Reception Rooms to 56 million viewers on a landmark February 14, 1962, television tour.
Kennedy, noting that both JFK and Jackie Kennedy had “deeply committed to design, to beauty,” argued that inspiring architecture “elevates the human spirit” and serves as “a template… for democracy.”
Trump appeared to be pleased with Kennedy’s fawning comments about his changes to the White House. / JIM WATSON / AFP via Getty Images
He closed by telling Trump: “This building, of all buildings, should look beautiful, and under your stewardship it looks extraordinary today—so thank you, Mr. President,” before finally pivoting to the matter at hand—a new White House initiative that will let Americans share their health records across medical systems.
The White House refurbishment has now been underway for some months.
Inside the president’s house, Trump has coated the historic interiors in his signature gold. The Oval Office now sports gilded crown molding that echoes its gold drapes and the gold detailing on the fireplace mantel.
All that glisters really is gold in Trump’s renovated White House. / SAUL LOEB / SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Ornate golden cherubs shipped from Mar-a-Lago dot various rooms, alongside gilded vases, urns, and a gold “Trump” crest above a doorway. Even the drink coasters gleam with the president’s surname stamped in metallic lettering.
Back in February, he floated an audacious plan to add a $100 million ballroom to the White House—modeled after the Grand Ballroom at Mar-a-Lago. This week, he updated the timeline, saying work is set to begin in two months and would wrap up in less than two years.
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