Trump Bathroom Reveal Fuels Renovation Backlash

President Trump posted before-and-after photos on Truth Social showing a renovated Lincoln Bedroom bathroom, saying he replaced 1940s art-deco green tile with black-and-white Statuary marble and gold fixtures and suggesting the marble may be original to the room. The White House has not disclosed the bathroom's cost or whether the renovation underwent formal design or approval processes. The revamp is one element of wider Trump-led changes — including paving over the Rose Garden, gilding the Oval Office and demolishing the East Wing to make way for a privately funded, 90,000-square-foot ballroom that sources estimate will cost roughly $250–300 million. Preservationists, historians, architectural groups and many Democrats have criticized the alterations as a “Mar-a-Lago-style” makeover, questioned the historical accuracy and review procedures, and disputed Trump's claims about the marble. Critics and some senators called the reveal tone-deaf amid a month-long federal shutdown that has left many federal workers unpaid, and polls show significant public opposition to the ballroom project.