Trump rejected Secret Service plan to demolish Oval Office
President says he is considering landmark status for the room.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Trump rejected Secret Service plan to demolish Oval Office
Photograph: Joe.My.God. (embedded from source)
What this story says
- President Donald Trump said Secret Service officials suggested demolishing and rebuilding the Oval Office.
- Trump rejected the proposal, stating the room is "a special place" and cannot be rebuilt.
- The current Oval Office was constructed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- Trump is considering designating the Oval Office as a federal landmark.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 8 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
42/100
Craft
57/100
Hype
41/100
8 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
Only 1 of the 8 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
President Donald Trump has stated that Secret Service officials proposed demolishing and rebuilding the Oval Office. Trump recounted that an official said, 'Sir, we think the Oval Office should be taken down, and we’ll build a new one, sir.' Trump responded, 'My ass, you can’t build a new one. This is a special place.'
The current Oval Office was constructed during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Trump has redecorated the room with gold as part of his renovations to the White House. He has also indicated he is looking into designating the room as a federal landmark, which could preserve his changes.
Coverage comparison
What the coverage left out
None of the left, centre, or right-rated digests mention that President Trump has redecorated the Oval Office with gold. The right-rated digest does not mention that the current Oval Office was constructed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 3 times, most recently on 2 Oct 2026, 00:15, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
5 rated outlets
- Left-rated reports led on President Trump's account of the Secret Service's suggestion to demolish the Oval Office. These reports carried the detail that Trump rejected the proposal, quoting his response, 'My ass, you can’t build a new one. This is a special place.' They also included that the current Oval Office was built by Franklin D. Roosevelt and that Trump has redecorated it with gold. Some left-rated reports noted Trump's consideration of designating the room as a federal landmark to preserve his renovations.
Centre
2 rated outlets
- Centre-rated reports focused on President Trump rejecting a Secret Service plan to take down the Oval Office. These reports included that Trump described the room as a "special place" and stated that no one can build a new one. They also mentioned his consideration of granting the room federal landmark status.
Right
1 rated outlet
- The right-rated report led on President Trump rejecting the Secret Service's suggestion to tear down and rebuild the Oval Office.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Trump rejected Secret Service plan to demolish Oval Office?
- Of the 8 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 63% are rated left, 24% are rated centre, 13% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Trump rejected Secret Service plan to demolish Oval Office left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 8 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Trump rejected Secret Service plan to demolish Oval Office biased?
- Trump rejected Secret Service plan to demolish Oval Office is one event reported by 8 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Trump rejected Secret Service plan to demolish Oval Office?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Trump rejected Secret Service plan to demolish Oval Office?
- 8 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What did the Secret Service suggest regarding the Oval Office?
- President Donald Trump stated that Secret Service officials proposed demolishing and rebuilding the Oval Office. He recounted an official suggesting, 'Sir, we think the Oval Office should be taken down, and we’ll build a new one, sir.'
- How did Donald Trump respond to the Secret Service's suggestion?
- Donald Trump rejected the proposal, stating, 'My ass, you can’t build a new one. This is a special place.' He indicated that the room is significant and cannot simply be rebuilt.
- What is the history of the current Oval Office?
- The current Oval Office was constructed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This historical context was provided in the reports detailing President Trump's comments about the room.
- What is President Trump considering for the Oval Office?
- President Trump is considering designating the Oval Office as a federal landmark. This action could potentially preserve the changes and renovations he has made to the room.
Read it at the source
8 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
5- The Oval Office could be Trump’s next target for tackiness (opens Daily Kos in a new tab)
Daily Kos — is Daily Kos biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- Trump: Secret Service Wants To Demolish Oval Office (opens Joe.My.God. in a new tab)
Joe.My.God. — is Joe.My.God. biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Trump eyes move that would lock in his gilded Oval Office makeover for future presidents (opens Raw Story in a new tab)
Raw Story — is Raw Story biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- Trump says Secret Service wants him to ‘take down’ Oval Office (opens The Washington Post in a new tab)
The Washington Post — is The Washington Post biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Tearing down the Oval Office? Trump says he rejected Secret Service plan (opens USA Today in a new tab)
Centre
2Right
1Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
![Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr departs an event in the East Room of the White House, on March 20, 2026, in Washington [Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/ap_6abd508ae4c06-1790791818.jpg?resize=1920%2C1440)