Melania Trump revealed her plans to redecorate the White House as she and Donald moved in on Inauguration Day on Monday.
She will make the place feel just like home because she plans to keep the place looking just like it did when they left it.
'A small change. Not much,” she told Fox News of her plans.
All first families leave their mark on the White House – especially on the upper floors where they live – and Melania was no exception.
In her memoirs, she wrote that she focused on “redecorating a dozen rooms in the private home, as the existing style was outdated and not to my taste.” She even designed a new rug for one of the main family rooms.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump put his own spin on it with his infamous “Diet Coke” button – a red button on the Oval Office desk that, when pressed, brought in his favorite drink on a silver tray.
So when they walk into the White House on Monday after the swearing-in ceremony, residence staff will have returned the building to the way it looked the day the couple left four years ago.
The nearly 100 employees, who are nonpolitical and move from president to president, spend the morning of Jan. 20 bringing out the outgoing commander-in-chief and bringing in the new one.
They have about five hours to get everything ready. It is a well-coordinated process that comes about after months of planning. After all, ever since President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race in July, the staff knew a new family was moving in somehow.
Donald and Melania Trump prepare to move to Washington DC
A moving truck can be seen outside the West Wing at the White House
People move bags that say “Unclassified Only” and paintings from the White House
By the time the Trumps enter 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, they will find their clothes in their closet, their favorite shampoo in the bathroom and their favorite food in the kitchen.
Family photos are shown. The furniture is rearranged according to your wishes.
The process of leaving the Bidens has already begun. Moving vans were spotted at the White House last week. Packages of boxes and giant rolls of bubble wrap were unloaded to start the packing process.
Additionally, moving trucks were seen at Mar-a-Lago as the Trumps prepared to move north.
It will be an easy transition for the White House staff. They know Donald and Melania Trump thanks to his first term in office.
“It's easier because they've lived there before,” Kate Andersen Brower, author of The Residence, told DailyMail.com.
'There are no mysteries about what [the Trumps] do they want breakfast, how do they go about it, what kind of shampoo do they use? I mean, they already know everything.”
The staff generally gets along well with whoever occupies the Oval Office. Their jobs are permanent and outside the political process.
Many of them have worked in the White House for years and served several presidents. Their loyalty lies with the families who lived there.
They include butlers, maids, housekeepers, chefs, cooks, doormen, florists, curators, electricians, plumbers, shopkeepers and engineers.
They love Trump and will welcome him with open arms.
“For example, he would give them a tip. I was told he would be handing out $50 bills,” Brower said.
President Donald Trump sits at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office – the Diet Coke button is circled in red
The second-floor Yellow Oval Room that served as the Trumps' living room and was redecorated by Melania Trump; she designed the rug
The empty Oval Office during a restoration project in August 2017
The main hall of the residence was another area that Melania Trump restored
During her first term in the White House, Melania Trump worked with designer Tham Kannalikham to redesign a number of rooms, including the Yellow Oval Room, the Queens' Bedroom and the Center Hall.
She describes her work in her memoir “Melania,” writing that her goal was “to preserve the history and beauty of the White House for future generations.”
She said the Yellow Oval Room in the home was a “favorite” and she designed the rug.
“I have carefully selected beautiful antiques from the White House collection,” she wrote in “Melania.” “I personally designed a custom rug with roses from American Beauty, blue ribbons and a trellis motif to tie it all together.”
She also renovated the president's private dining room and the queen's bedroom, named after Elizabeth II who slept there.
Melania noted that she “replaced the old bed with a more refined one, laid a lighter carpet with floral patterns and painted the walls a delicate shade of pink.”
She also repaired much of the floor in the first floor state rooms, which had not been repaired for years and is walked by hundreds of visitors every month.
Donald Trump's Oval Office furniture
Joe Biden's Oval Office on the day he became president in January 2021
The controversial bust of Winston Churchill (circled in red above) was returned to the Oval Office by Donald Trump after Barack Obama removed it
Melania Trump's restoration work in the Rose Garden was controversial
Melania Trump has added a tennis pavilion to the White House grounds
Donald and Melania Trump leave the White House on January 20, 2021 – they return on January 20, 2025
Each family puts its own stamp on the home, so that it meets the needs of the residents. For example, the Obamas, who had two young daughters, made the upstairs of the White House more homely and child-friendly.
For the upstairs rooms, the Trump family's personal living space, Melania used soft pastel colors — yellow paint on the walls, pink and blue furniture, light-colored rugs — to give a relaxing and inviting feel.
She also added a tennis pavilion to the grounds and renovated some damaged furniture and accessories in the East Room and Red Room. And – to much controversy – she redesigned the White House Rose Garden.
Donald Trump left his mark on the Oval Office, including that now infamous Diet Coke button.
He could press the button whenever he felt like drinking the soda he drank all the time. Walt Nauta, his personal valet who left the White House with him, was in charge of answering the call. Nauta would bring Trump a glass of Diet Coke on a silver tray.
Trump even joked about the red button that came with his phone, saying people thought it was meant to activate nuclear weapons.
“Everyone gets a little nervous when I push that button,” he said.
Trump also had photos of his parents and his coin collection on display. He also showed off a model of his redesign for Air Force One, painted in the same blue, red and white as his Trump Force One.
Trump likes Diet Coke and drinks several glasses a day – over a cup of soda on his desk in December 2018
The Oval Office is always being updated to reflect its occupant. For example, Biden used a dark blue rug on the floor. Trump used a soft beige one.
Both men used the Resolute Desk, which was built from the wood of the British ship and given to America by Queen Victoria.
Each president also chooses his own artwork, which became a subject of controversy when Democrats Biden and Barack Obama removed a bust of Winston Churchill that Republicans George W. Bush and Trump had in the Oval.
Besides the awards, the biggest question is who the Trumps will hire as chief usher.
The Chief Usher is the head of housekeeping and operations at the White House. The holder of the position runs the 52,000-square-foot, six-story White House residence and oversees the permanent staff.
The person reports directly to the president and first lady. They hire and fire staff and manage the resources Congress appropriates to run the House, including the costs of heating, lighting, air conditioning and staff salaries.
The position pays approximately $200,000 per year.
The job, which was once a non-political task, has become just that, with presidents making their own choice to run the household.
The Bidens hired Robert Downing as head usher when they took over the residence. Downing has a long history in the hospitality industry.
The Trumps will now make their own choice.
