(The White House)

BARGAIN BAROQUE

Shop this look: Buy cheap, faux gold dupes of Oval Office decor

Some of the gold decorations in the Oval Office look... very similar to items we found for sale on a Chinese marketplace.

Jon Keegan

4/15/25 5:05PM

Since President Donald Trump moved back into the White House in January, it has undergone some major decorative changes. The Swedish ivy that perched upon the mantle has been replaced with golden vases from the White House collection. And the room, overall, has just gotten noticeably more shiny and gold.

Looking at photos taken in the Oval Office this week with El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, we noticed several decorative medallions applied to the marble fireplace, and the same ones stuck on the wall under portraits in gilded frames.

President Trump with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador — (Photo: The White House)

Sometime after March, ornate gold decorative medallions were added to the cornice around the ceiling. The fact that several copies of the same decoration were showing up in different spots (made of different material) made us wonder where these were sourced and what they were made of.

President Trump meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office — (Photo: The Washington Post/Getty Images)

A quick photo search on Alibaba showed many such “decorative appliqués” available in white and gold. We came across one item that looks very much like the ones all over the Oval Office.

This “High-density Home Decoration Polyurethane Appliques Ornament PU Foam Veneer Accessories” from Guangzhou Homemax Decorative Material Limited on Alibaba is a dead ringer. The decorations are available in many colors: “matte white most, or gold, silver, antique gold or bronze, mixed color, customized color.”

Screenshot of Alibaba — (Screenshot: Sherwood News)

The price? Between $1 and $5 apiece (but the minimum order is 50 items). And that isn’t accounting for the steep 145% tariffs that Trump recently slapped on Chinese imports.

As you can see from this comparison, this looks very close, but it may not be a perfect match. To be fair, it is certainly possible that Chinese manufacturers are copying a high-quality design from higher-end architectural suppliers, which provided the new decor to the White House.

I messaged the owners of Guangzhou Homemax Decorative Material Limited, and a customer service agent named Ruth Fu quickly responded to my question about the item’s availability.

“Hello Sir. Yes we have this model. Do you need gold color, please?”

I followed up to ask if that was indeed their product hanging in the Oval Office, but I did not hear back.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

For reference, here is what the Oval Office looked like in November 2024, when President Biden met with the president of Indonesia:

US President Joe Biden meets with President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto in the Oval Office (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Jon Keegan

3/11/26

Group of retired senior military officers and Microsoft file briefs supporting Anthropic in lawsuit

Anthropic sues the US government

In response to the Pentagon’s unprecedented, punitive determination that Anthropic is a national security supply chain risk, the AI startup has sued the US government.

Jon Keegan3/9/26

J. Edward Moreno2/27/26

OpenAI is reportedly working with Pentagon to hash out guardrails amid Anthropic standoff over AI safety

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company is working with the Pentagon to negotiate safety guardrails for AI models used in the battlefield, which comes as one of its top competitors, Anthropic, is at a standoff with the government.

According to a memo obtained by several media outlets, Altman told staff OpenAI believes “that AI should not be used for mass surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons, and that humans should remain in the loop for high-stakes automated decisions. These are our main red lines.”

Anthropic, the company behind the AI chatbot Claude, was one of several firms that received a $200 million contract from the Department of Defense for “agentic workflows.”

Since then, tensions between Anthropic and the Pentagon have reportedly risen as the startup insists on surveillance restrictions. The government’s attack on Venezuela last month that led to the capture of President Nicolás Maduro reportedly involved the use of Anthropic’s Claude AI models for planning, which caused the startup to push back on the alleged violation of its terms of use.

Anthropic has until 5:01 p.m. ET on Friday to reach a deal with the Pentagon, which has threatened consequences against the company if it doesn’t allow the government unrestricted use.

Altman’s comments come as the Financial Times reports that executives at Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are being pushed by workers to support Anthropic in its dispute with the Pentagon and adopt similar guardrails as the Claude company in any work they undertake with the US military.

Sam Altman says OpenAI shares Anthropic's red lines in Pentagon fight

Anthropic, the company behind the AI chatbot Claude, was one of several firms that received a $200 million contract from the Department of Defense for “agentic workflows.”

Anthropic has until 5:01 p.m. ET on Friday to reach a deal with the Pentagon, which has threatened consequences against the company if it doesn’t allow the government unrestricted use.

Jon Keegan2/23/26

Report: Anthropic CEO Amodei meeting with Hegseth at the Pentagon as tensions mount

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has been summoned to meet with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon on Tuesday, according to a report from Axios. Tensions are running high between the Trump administration and Anthropic, as the startup’s surveillance restrictions on the use of its AI are reportedly causing outrage within the Pentagon.

Last month’s attack on Venezuela that led to the capture of Maduro reportedly involved the use of Anthropic’s Claude AI models for planning, which caused the startup to push back on the alleged violation of its terms of use.

Per the report, the Pentagon is considering effectively blacklisting Anthropic’s AI from government work if it doesn’t capitulate to the administration’s terms.

Antagonizing the Trump administration could cause Anthropic to face potential regulatory hurdles as it races toward an IPO this year. The company recently hired former Microsoft CFO Chris Liddel to its board, who formerly served as deputy White House chief of staff in the first Trump administration.

Scoop: Hegseth to meet Anthropic CEO as Pentagon threatens banishment

Per the report, the Pentagon is considering effectively blacklisting Anthropic’s AI from government work if it doesn’t capitulate to the administration’s terms.

President Trump Participates In Champion Of Coal Event At The White House

President Trump, the “Undisputed Champion of Beautiful, Clean Coal,” wants the Defense Department to start buying more of it

US total coal consumption, however, has plummeted in the last two decades.

Tom Jones2/17/26