President Donald Trump on Wednesday showed off two new gold-embellished Cisco landline phones added to the Resolute Desk, the latest addition to an Oval Office that has already been extensively redecorated with gold ornaments and trim.
The phones were on display while Trump was flanked by travel industry executives and members of his administration. Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy, acting as pool reporter, asked Trump about the phones, which were positioned to the president's left on the desk.
“Is that a new phone?” Doocy asked. “Yeah, you know who gave this to me? A phone company,” Trump replied, a comment that appeared to draw laughter from those present in the room. Doocy then approached the desk to examine the phones more closely as Trump displayed one of them.
According to a photograph taken by Doocy and shared by CNN's Kaitlan Collins, each phone features a gold-coloured presidential emblem alongside a sketch of the White House. The buttons on the devices are set within a gold-coloured frame, and the words “The President,” “45,” “47,” and “Donald J. Trump” appear in gold lettering.
An analysis of images taken inside the Oval Office in recent months suggests the phones were introduced sometime between 13 and 24 July. Older phones can be seen in a video shared by White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino on 21 July, which showcased the broader gold-themed makeover of the Oval Office.
The addition of the customised phones quickly drew criticism on social media. MS NOW's Molly Jong-Fast wrote on X that “our taxes are being spent on the dumbest stuff.” Other users mocked the decision, with one writing, “Liberace called. He wants his landline back,” while another described the phones as “what peak sycophancy looks like.”
It remains unclear whether the White House, Cisco, or a third party was responsible for adding the custom text and gold trim to the phones. HuffPost, which first reported the story, said it had contacted both the White House and Cisco for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.
The phones are the latest in a series of gold-themed additions to the Oval Office since Trump returned to office. Photographs and footage taken throughout the year have documented an increasingly ornate redesign of the room, with gold trim, decorative elements and now telecommunications equipment reflecting the aesthetic. The changes have periodically attracted attention and comment from observers, though the White House has not detailed the full extent or cost of the redecoration.
Critics have used the latest addition to renew broader criticism of the administration's spending priorities and stylistic choices inside the Oval Office, though no official figures on the cost of the phones or their installation have been made public.
