Trump had a special button to order a certain drink with in the White House
So, it's official! A certain Mr Trump has exited the building (and this is how celebrities have reacted to that) and Joe Biden is now the 46th President of the United States. Big changes ahoy, then.
As is typical when a monumental shift in power occurs, the White House has once again been redecorated to mark the change and to suit the incoming family's tastes (remember when Melania Trump switched up the garden and folks were, err, not so keen on her vision?). Right now, the focus is on the Oval Office, which Biden has already made some notable tweaks to – one being that he's removed a special button Trump had installed on his desk to summon a particular fizzy drink: Diet Coke.
It's reported that the former President was so very into the soda that he could sometimes get through up to twelve in a single day. Trump proudly revealed his 'instant Diet Coke' device during a press conference in 2017, where he bragged that a butler would immediately drop the drink off to him on a silver tray.
As for the other changes Biden has made to his newly inherited office, he's chosen to feature busts of prominent racial equality and civil rights activists, such as Rosa Parks and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr – and has removed the bust of Winston Churchill that Trump had on display.
He's also hung two telling portraits up; one of former president Thomas Jefferson and another of former treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton, which many are interpreting as a signal that Biden hopes his presidency will unite two opposing sides. Jefferson and Hamilton were known for routinely disagreeing with each other, but it's thought Biden has placed them together in an attempt to show the positives that can come from having different points of view.
According to a report from The Washington Post, Biden's office remarked that the paintings are "hallmarks of how differences of opinion, expressed within the guardrails of the Republic, are essential to democracy".
Biden Oval Office vs. Trump Oval Office pic.twitter.com/4plAURP1Y4
— Hunter Schwarz (@hunterschwarz) January 20, 2021
"This Oval is an Oval for Day One," Ashley Williams, deputy director of Oval Office operations, also told the publication during a tour of the space. "It was important for President Biden to walk into an Oval that looked like America and started to show the landscape of who he is going to be as president."
Another notable politician features in the office too: Benjamin Franklin, one of the country's Founding Fathers. It's reported that the decision to feature Franklin is a nod to Biden's passion for science. Said portrait has been deliberately placed by a bookshelf containing a moon rock set too, in an effort to remind US citizens to stay ambitious (and of past achievements).
What else is new? Well, it appears that Biden has opted for a new blue carpet too, perhaps in tribute to his party's signature colour.
As for future revamps, it's traditional for the First Lady to put her stamp on the White House (in particular around Christmas time), so we're looking forward to seeing what Dr Jill Biden (who is apparently chummy with Prince Harry!) has in store for the historical building too.
Ooooh, it's all going on, isn't it!
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