President Donald Trump has swapped out the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office while it's being refurbished, The Independent reported. The iconic presidential piece was used by former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama but now requires a refresh.
There are at least six options for presidents to choose from when it comes to the desk. Trump explained on Truth Social Wednesday that he decided on the historic C&O desk for now.
"President, after election, gets a choice of 1 in 7 desks. This desk, the 'C&O,' which is also very well-known and was used by President George H.W. Bush and others, has been temporarily installed in the White House while the Resolute Desk is being lightly refinished—a very important job. This is a beautiful, but temporary replacement!" Trump posted Wednesday.
The C&O desk Trump will temporarily use was so named for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. It was custom-made for the owners of the company and was in the Oval Office Study in 1975.
In 1987, the desk became part of the permanent presidential collection after the GSX corporation officially gifted it to the White House. Although this is a stately piece of furniture, it doesn't carry the gravitas of the desk it's replacing.
The Resolute Desk has been part of the storied Oval Office decor collection since 1880, when Queen Victoria presented it as a gift to President Rutherford Hayes. It was made from the wood salvaged from the British ship, the HMS Resolute.
President John F. Kennedy was the first to place it in the Oval Office in 1961. It was removed in 1963 by President Lyndon B. Johson after Kennedy's assassination, and the desk was displayed in the Smithsonian between 1966 and 1977.
President Jimmy Carter returned the desk to use in the White House in 1977, and every president has utilized it since then except for George H.W. Bush, who chose the C&O. Until Trump, the elder Bush was the only president to use the C&O Desk in the Oval Office.
Although this seems like a routine change for a president to make, some news outlets had fun speculating about the abrupt move. As the entertainment site E! noted, it could have something to do with Trump's notorious germaphobia.
During a taped news conference for Trump's Department of Government Efficiency on Feb. 12, the young son of Tesla CEO Elon Musk appeared to pick his nose and wipe it on the desk. Musk shares four-year-old X Æ A-12, known simply as X, and two other children with pop star Grimes.
Trump gushed about Musk's young son but didn't comment on the child's decision to use the desk as a tissue. "This is X, and he's a great guy—high IQ," the president told the media.
Although it's an interesting theory about the nasal secretions warranting the refresh, Trump did not indicate that there was any reason beyond simply restoring it to its former glory. The president made similar refurbishments to the White House in his first term.
Of all the recent presidents, Trump seems to have the most reverence for the treasures of the White House. The Resolute Desk will be brought to its former glory after surviving the Obama and Biden administrations, just as Trump is doing for the entire nation.
