Trump Casts His Eye Toward Historic Treaty Room
President Trump is considering another possible alteration to the White House, including the idea of turning the historic Treaty Room into a guest bedroom with a renovated bathroom, according to a report from the New York Times.
The Treaty Room sits on the second floor of the presidential residence and has had several important uses throughout its history. Over the years it has functioned as a Cabinet meeting room, a working office for presidents, and a site where significant treaties were signed and wartime messages delivered. One of the most notable moments there occurred in 1963, when President John F. Kennedy signed the nuclear test ban treaty in that room.
Discussion of the potential change came up during a February 6 tour President Trump led for a small group inside the White House. The group included members of the Committee for the Preservation of the White House as well as representatives from the Commission of Fine Arts, according to people who attended.
Rodney Mims Cook Jr., who chairs the Commission of Fine Arts and was appointed by President Trump, said the president spoke about expanding and updating the bathroom connected to the room, which dates back to renovations carried out during the Truman administration. Cook described the meeting as informal. At one point, however, the president briefly asked those present to raise their hands if they supported the proposal.
That moment prompted the executive secretary of the preservation committee, a National Park Service official, to leave the room because of concerns that the show of hands might later be interpreted as an official vote, according to one account.
When asked about the remodeling ideas, White House spokesman Davis Ingle said that “President Trump is the builder-in-chief,” adding that the president intends to continue making changes to the White House.
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