Will Trump's Gold Decor Stay In The White House If He Dies In Office? What We Know

There is no doubt that U.S. President Donald Trump loves gold. His apartment in Manhattan's Trump Tower includes a 24-carat front door and looks as if King Midas has touched every surface. It gives a good glimpse of just how much Trump loves both this color and the precious metal. "There's nothing like gold, and there's nothing like solid gold," Trump said at an August 22, 2025 press conference (via Forbes Breaking News). At the time, he was in the White House Oval Office, which he's filled with gold decor, covering seemingly every available surface.

For months, rumors about Trump's health have plagued the 79-year-old, who is the oldest American to become president, spurred on by photos showing large bruises on his right hand and others where he has swollen ankles. Things got even darker when a wild internet rumor that he'd died spread quickly. And while Trump is indeed alive, he's been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a vein disease that's not typically fatal. Still, the question remains: What would happen if the oldest president were to die in office? And, relatedly, what would happen to all that gold decor? It would be up to Vice President JD Vance to decide. If Trump were to die in office, his second in command would immediately become president, with all the powers that entails, including the ability to redecorate the Oval Office and other parts of the White House.

When U.S. vice presidents have ascended to the presidency, whether through the assassination of their former boss or by natural causes, they have eventually put their own stamp on their new home in the White House. Two good examples are Andrew Johnson and Lyndon Johnson. After John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, Andrew Johnson became the 17th U.S. president. It didn't take him long to redecorate the White House. He left the job to his daughter, Martha Patterson, who oversaw the changes from 1865 to 1869 that included remodeling many of the rooms.

After John F. Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963, Lyndon Johnson became president. He made several changes to the Oval Office during his tenure, with the biggest one involving swapping out the Resolute desk, made from the timbers from the HMS Resolute and used by most presidents since 1880, for his own desk. Lyndon Johnson also changed out the red carpet for a blue-green one and put up a portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whom he admired. He also made it harder for future presidents to drastically alter the White House State Rooms by establishing the position of White House curator and a committee to guide the maintenance of these rooms.

President Donald Trump has put his stamp on the White House, both in his first term with the controversial revamping of the Rose Garden by First Lady Melania Trump. In his second term, so far, Trump has paved over the grass in the same garden to make it a patio and put up two giant flagpoles at the front of the building. He also has a $200 million gold ballroom in the planning stages that would mean having to demolish part of the East Wing to build it. But as of now, it's the Oval Office that has seen the most Trumpization.

The gold additions include trimmings along the upper walls, door frames, and various other decorations. The mantle now has nine different vases and trophies, and the wall above it is covered in portraits of former presidents in gold frames. Not everyone has loved Trump's changes to the Oval Office. Musician Jack White, in an August 2025 Instagram post, called the Oval Office revamp "vulgar, gold-leafed and gaudy" and compared it to a "professional wrestler's dressing room." If Trump did die in office, JD Vance, as the new president, would have pretty much a free hand in redecorating the Oval Office.

While President Donald Trump and JD Vance have had a complicated history, Vance has since become one of his most strenuous supporters. Vance, who had claimed in 2016 to be a "Never Trumper" and once mused that his now boss might be "America's Hitler", has altered not only his political views but his attire to more closely resemble Trump. He went from tech-bro casual outfits, like open-collared dress shirts and jeans, to longer suit jackets with wider lapels, like Trump wears, often paired with a red tie.

If Trump did die in office and Vance became president, would his aesthetics continue to take a page from Trump's book, especially as it relates to gold decor? When asked point blank about this during an August 28, 2025, interview with USA Today, he dodged the question somewhat. "Well, the president obviously has his very distinctive style and he's made billions of dollars building beautiful buildings all over the world," he said during the interview. "What I really like about the Oval Office is that it's brighter. ... I like what the president has done to it." So while Vance may be hedging now, only time and circumstance will tell whether Trump's gold-heavy Oval Office decor would stay put or not.