Trump issues proclamation declaring Oval Office national monument
Following election losses, the signing marks Trump's third event of the week focused on signature renovation projects.
United States President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation designating the Oval Office and the adjacent Cabinet Room as a national monument.
Signed from behind the president’s desk, topped with a red “VETO” baseball cap, the proclamation on Thursday marked Trump’s first official action since his party’s sweeping losses in Tuesday’s midterm elections, which will hand Democrats control of Congress come January.
“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,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office at the signing, adding that the document will turn both rooms, located on the first floor of the West Wing, into “a landmark for the ages”.
Those initiatives include multiple high-profile overhauls, including the demolition of the East Wing to build a highly contentious, nearly $1bn White House ballroom to sit atop a multistorey underground bunker, as well as a proposed 76-metre (250ft) triumphal arch along the approach to Arlington National Cemetery.