New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman has described how Donald Trump's gold-adorned Oval Office left her stunned during an interview on day 17 of the Iran war. Speaking on Axios's Behind The Curtain podcast, Haberman, who co-wrote Regime Change with Jonathan Swan, recounted the encounter as one of the most remarkable experiences either journalist had shared with the US president.
Interview almost didn't happen
Haberman told Axios co-founder Mike Allen that she and Swan had been requesting the interview for several weeks, intending to challenge Trump on claims made in their book. However, the meeting almost never came about after members of the White House press operation allegedly tried to prevent it from taking place.
The journalists ultimately contacted Trump directly, after which he instructed his aides to arrange the interview, according to the US Mirror. They entered the Oval Office on March 16, which Haberman noted was the 17th day of the war in Iran, reports the Irish Star.
Gold coins and superglue
Haberman said they had heard Trump had been decorating the room with gold challenge coins and spotted evidence of the unusual practice the moment they arrived. "So we walk in and we had heard, having covered every inch of the Oval Office with something, that he was now gluing challenge coins, which are gold mostly, to walls," she said.
They spotted the coins almost immediately near the doorway connecting the Oval Office to the Rose Garden. Haberman also pointed to a recent social media post by Trump's daughter-in-law, Laura Trump, which appeared to show the president personally applying superglue to an object. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had previously walked in on Trump using superglue to attach an appliqué to the marble fireplace.
'Like walking into a jewel box'
Yet it was the overall appearance of the Oval Office that left Haberman struggling to find words. "We walk into the Oval Office and it's really, I don't know how to describe it, Mikey, but it really is like an assault on the senses because there's just so much gold. It's like walking into a jewel box," she said.
Trump subsequently entered through a side door from the dining room and proceeded to discuss one of his latest initiatives. Given the meeting took place during the Iran war, Haberman had expected the president's attention to be firmly fixed on the conflict, with maps or military strategy on display. Instead, Trump presented them with photographs of maple trees he was considering for the White House, telling the journalists: "I'm choosing maple trees for the White House. I'm good at picking trees."
Renovation talk dominates
Beneath the photographs were designs for Trump's envisioned White House ballroom. The president then devoted time to explaining the layout, outlining the columns he planned to include. Haberman said Trump drew comparisons between certain columns and those seen in Rome, while likening others to those in Athens. He also voiced his pleasure that the proposed columns were either wider or more widely spaced than those at the US Supreme Court.
Renovation discussions consumed a significant portion of the meeting, accounting for roughly the first 15 minutes of their hour-long session with Trump. The exchange formed part of the research underpinning Regime Change, a book scrutinising Trump's presidency and the inner workings of his administration.
