President Donald Trump wants the Oval Office declared a federal landmark so no one can take down the gilded accents he’s affixed to the walls.
The offhand remark was just one of many eyebrow-raising assertions made by Trump during a contentious sit-down interview with Time magazine published Thursday morning. The topic of White House renovations dominated the conversation as the president repeatedly returned to the topic.
“This beautiful room that nobody should be allowed to rip down. The Oval Office,” Trump told the magazine’s senior political correspondent Eric Cortellessa and Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs for a cover story — Trump’s 56th, which is a record for the publication.
“I’ve been asking Susie for six months to give me a statement,” he said, referring to his chief of staff, Susie Wiles. “Will we save this room? Will we make it a federal landmark?”
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During his more than hourlong talk with the journalists, Trump reportedly showed them photos of the building and vociferously defended his changes — calling the White House a “disgusting mess” before he arrived.
TIME’s new cover: Inside our 75-minute interview in the Oval Office: What Donald Trump has built. https://t.co/rt6K5dpuHT pic.twitter.com/Yur2YBrkaO
— TIME (@TIME) October 1, 2026
Trump described how he rapidly pushed through a nearly $10 million helipad project, asking Lockheed Martin, which built the Marine One helicopters that for decades have landed on the White House’s South Lawn, to pay for the project. He also defended the planned White House ballroom, a roughly $400 million project on the site of the East Wing, which he demolished without seeking input from Congress or the public.
A federal appeals court in August upheld a lower court order saying the administration needed congressional approval to build the ballroom. The Supreme Court has allowed construction to continue temporarily while the case proceeds.
The president also complained at length about the tone of the news coverage his presidency has garnered.
As one example, Trump pointed to the Kennedy Center. Last year, he pushed to secure more than $250 million from Congress for renovations at the storied arts institution — and he and his handpicked board of trustees have been pushing ever since to attach Trump’s name to the center, a prospect that a federal judge has twice blocked in recent weeks. Asked whether he would commit to not demolishing the building without congressional consent, Trump said, “I’m not committing to anything.”
“We’re going to see how it plays out in court,” he added, while noting the sacrifices he’s made to renovate the institution, which he complained is in “terrible shape” and has not been able to turn a profit.
He also said he would consider pardoning members of his administration before leaving office, replying, “Yeah, sure I’d do that.”
Trump’s answers reflected a growing focus on legacy-building for the 47th president, who said at an event Wednesday that he anticipated his final 2 ½ years in office would go by “lightning quick.”
Trump also discussed the Iran war, artificial intelligence and the midterms.
He said he chose to extend the Iran campaign after meeting his original timeline. Asked about his earlier threats to annihilate Iran, he said, “Yeah, I would do that. It’s possible.”
On AI, Trump said he might seek a U.S. stake in OpenAI or Anthropic: “I might. Maybe I could do that.”
Asked whether he would rule out declaring a state of emergency before the midterms, Trump said, “I don’t rule anything out or in.” He asked if the reporter meant the Insurrection Act, then said, “I could use it.” Asked about sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to polling places, he replied, “Haven’t thought of it.”
Near the end of the interview, Trump apparently grew testy, complaining that the reporters had not asked him “one fucking positive question.”
He reportedly went back to showing them White House photos before ending the conversation.
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