Trump Makes Oval Office Landmark, Parks VETO Hat

President Donald Trump signed a document Thursday that he said would designate the White House Oval Office and Cabinet Room as national landmarks, according to the New York Post and CNN. New Fox News video from the same Oval Office appearance showed a large red “VETO” hat on the Resolute Desk.

Speaking after Democrats won control of Congress in Tuesday’s midterms, Trump said he was signing paperwork to lock in the Oval Office and Cabinet Room as protected landmarks, according to CNN and the New York Post. He said major structural changes would then require congressional approval.

President Trump signed a proclamation that will designate the Oval Office and Cabinet Room as a national monument to prevent future changes to the redesigns he has made— he will ask Congress to codify it into law.

“If anyone ever comes and decides to start knocking down walls,… pic.twitter.com/DbnfuUFyzA

— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) November 5, 2026

“There’s no major modification without the approval of Congress. So if they want to say let’s not have the Oval anymore, let’s make it square, what happens is they have to go back to Congress,” Trump said, according to the New York Post.

Trump had already previewed a veto strategy earlier in the week. On election night he told Fox News Democrats would “send over things that are insane and I’ll veto them,” and he previously told the New York Post’s Miranda Devine he would become “Mr. Veto” if Democrats took Congress, according to those outlets.

CNN reported that Trump said the administration would send the landmark document to Congress for ratification and that CNN had reached out to the White House about the paperwork and Trump’s intentions.

The New York Post reported the order covers the historic office of the president and the Roosevelt Cabinet Room and would bar those rooms from being changed without an act of Congress. Trump said a successor could still redecorate, including removing gold trim and paintings, “as long as they do it carefully,” the Post reported.

Trump claimed last month that the Secret Service wanted to tear down the Oval Office and rebuild a more secure workspace, and he rejected that idea, according to the New York Post. With the new order, he said the rooms “won’t be able to be taken down, destroyed, touched, or anything else,” the Post reported.

Thursday’s signing was the third White House event this week tied to Trump’s renovation projects in Washington, CNN reported, following a Lincoln Reflecting Pool speech Tuesday and a ballroom tour Wednesday. Those projects have been unpopular with many voters, according to CNN.

Russian state outlets RIA Novosti and Vesti also reported Thursday that Trump displayed the red VETO hat on his desk during the Oval Office appearance after the midterm losses.

For conservatives watching a Democratic Congress take the gavels in January, the dual message was hard to miss: protect the Oval Office Trump remade, and keep the veto pen ready. The legal durability of a presidential landmark designation for White House rooms will turn on the final paperwork and any congressional action, which CNN noted was still being clarified.

Sources

• New York Post: Trump signs order on Oval Office and Cabinet Room landmarks
• CNN: Trump says Oval Office and Cabinet Room would become national landmarks
• Fox News: video of VETO hat on the Resolute Desk
• RIA Novosti / Vesti: reporting on the VETO hat display

Reporting by Daily Beltway.