Trump reveals he has removed the Resolute Desk used by Biden and Obama from the Oval Office [View all]

Source: The Independent

Thursday 20 February 2025 17:05 GMT


Donald Trump has temporarily removed the iconic Resolute Desk used by his Democratic predecessors Joe Biden and Barack Obama from the Oval Office and replaced it with the C&O desk. Crafted from the once-abandoned British arctic exploration ship the HMS Resolute and gifted to President Rutherford Haye by Queen Victoria in 1880, the Resolute Desk has been used by almost every U.S. leader in West Wing.

The Resolute Desk marks one of six – along with the C&O, Theodor Roosevelt, Hoover, Johnson, and Wilson – that have been placed in the Oval Office since the room’s construction in 1909 as a symbol of one’s presidency, along with providing a practical workspace. Now, Trump has revealed that the Resolute Desk needs to be refurbished, and has instead opted to bring in a “beautiful,” albeit “temporary,” replacement.

“A President, after election, gets a choice of 1 in 7 desks,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday, appearing to skew his figures. C&O stands for Chesapeake and Ohio Railway as the desk was originally built for the company’s owners. It was first used in the Oval Office Study in 1975 before officially being donated by the GSX corporation, a mass rail transit company, to the White House in 1987.

“This desk, the ‘C&O,’ which is also 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 vital job. This is a beautiful, but temporary replacement!” Since 1977, the Resolute Desk has remained a firm fixture in the Oval Office and used by every president bar Georgie H.W. Bush, who opted for the C&O Desk. Bush Sr is the only president to use the C&O Desk, marking it as the shortest-serving desk to date.

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-oval-office-desk-remove-resolute-b2701441.html