President Trump made some bold claims this spring about his Oval Office renovations, he reportedly told the Canadian prime minister the work used “24-karat gold” and spoke about his love for costly materials. But as more decorations appeared across the office since February, people began noticing something about those repeating medallion patterns. They looked familiar…
TikTokers spotted the medallions in news photos and ran simple Google reverse image searches. The searches pulled up matching product listings at Home Depot. Users shared side-by-side comparisons, starting a lively online discussion.
Investigative reporters picked up the story and began verifying the matches. That trail led straight to Home Depot and suppliers in China, suggesting the pieces were mass-produced rather than custom-made.
Reporters Track Down the Source
Inside Edition verified the TikTok findings, confirming that both the fireplace millwork and cherubs appeared to be polyurethane pieces from Ekena Millwork. BuzzFeed identified a second design that looked identical to another Ekena Millwork piece for $30.79. And then, Internet sleuths found a third match, the “Endurathane Abigail Onlay” with a flower motif, for $24.48.
These are polyurethane appliques that stick onto walls. Made in Taiwan, they arrive white. Someone would need to paint them gold after purchase.
When BuzzFeed contacted Ekena Millwork for comment, the company replied, “We work with several design firms in DC that have worked on the White House and believe these could be our onlays.” So even the manufacturer isn’t denying that these could be their products.
Other reporters found nearly identical items selling for even less on Alibaba. Guangzhou Homemax Decorative Material Limited offers similar pieces for $1 to $5 each with a 50-piece minimum order. Even with Trump’s 145% tariffs on Chinese goods, these prices fall well below luxury custom work.
Gold Takes Over the Oval Office
In February’s meeting with Zelensky, gold details appeared mostly on the mantel. By summer, during the Philippine president’s visit, gold decorations had spread to other areas of the room.
All of this evidence contradicts Trump’s “24-karat gold” claim. When speaking to the Canadian prime minister, he reportedly said he brought in his Mar-a-Lago “gold guy,” a South Florida cabinetmaker, for special carvings. But in reality, the decorations match mass-produced items from Home Depot.
Several outlets reported that his gold aesthetic had already drawn criticism before anyone spotted the Home Depot connection. Musician Jack White, a musician, posted a photo on Instagram of Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky. White called the gold touches “vulgar” and compared the office to a “professional wrestler’s dressing room.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung fired back immediately, calling White a “washed-up, has-been loser” and claiming he “fails to appreciate the splendor and significance of the Oval Office.”
In response to all of this, the White House defended the renovations while sidestepping the main question. When BuzzFeed requested comment about the specific Home Depot matches, the question was ignored.
Later, a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the decor is “the highest quality” and pushed back against suggestions that the items came from big-box stores. Officials pressed the renovation’s overall quality, while avoiding Trump’s “24-karat gold” claims completely.
The America First Problem
Christopher Wellington spotted a deeper irony in Trump’s decorating choices. The gold medallions undercut the America First trade policies Trump champions, Wellington argues in his forthcoming book about Trump’s taste for Louis XIV style.
Wellington compares Trump’s approach to the Palace of Versailles, which the French king built as elaborate advertising for French craftsmanship. The palace showcased domestic furniture, metalwork, mirrors, silks, and paintings. This decorative program kept luxury production inside France rather than importing from abroad.
The strategy worked as protectionism, Wellington notes. It made France synonymous with the finest luxury goods. Trump borrowed the visual language but missed the economic point. Where Louis XIV used luxury to boost domestic industry, Trump decorated with mass-produced items from Taiwan and China while preaching America First.
China Gets the Last Laugh
The Oval Office gold decorations represent this pattern on a smaller but more symbolic scale. Trump campaigns on America First while decorating America’s most important office with mass-produced items from Taiwan and China.
Chinese social media users have been highlighting exactly this contradiction for months. In April, Beijing’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning shared a post showing Trump’s trademark “MAGA” hat marked “Made in China” with a price tag showing increased cost, according to sources. On top of that, China’s state media released videos of Chinese factories producing MAGA merchandise with workers making over 1,000 Trump banners daily.
Chinese users created viral AI-generated videos mocking Trump’s manufacturing promises. One showed Americans looking sad as they work in factories to traditional Chinese music. The videos received millions of views as users pointed out the wedge between rhetoric and reality.
The medallions become perfect ammunition for this critique. The president imposes major tariffs on Chinese goods while his office showcases foreign-made decorations. News reporters found that Chinese social media users seize on contradictions in Trump’s policies. The Home Depot story gives them their best material yet. So now, the trade war has become a meme war, and Trump’s golden Oval Office just handed his critics their best ammunition.
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