Trump removes 150-year-old Resolute Desk from the Oval Office to be 'lightly refinished'

Yahoo

22-02-2025

President Donald Trump has temporarily taken the 150-year-old Resolute Desk out of the Oval Office for refinishing.
'A President, after election, gets a choice of 1 in 7 desks,' Trump wrote on social media. 'This desk, the 'C&O,' which is also very 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 very important job. This is a beautiful, but temporary replacement!'
When President Harry S. Truman first used the desk at the White House, it was brought into the Oval Office by President John F. Kennedy and became an iconic backdrop as his son, John F. Kennedy Jr., played inside the desk while his father was working.
Gifted to former President Rutherford B. Hayes by Queen Victoria in 1880, the Resolute Desk is a double pedestal partner's desk made from oak timbers of the British Shop HMS Resolute, according to The White House Historical Association.
For many years, the desk was used on the second floor of the White House, where the presidential offices were located before the addition of the West Wing in 1902.
In 1945, the Presidential Coat-of-Arms, the seal of the U.S. president, was fitted on the desk.
Between 1948-1952, the desk was moved to the Broadcast Room on the White House's ground floor and was used for a short period of time for radio and television broadcasts by former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, according to The White House Historical Association.
Former President John F. Kennedy was the first president to use the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.
When former President Lyndon B. Johnson took office in 1963, he requested another desk for the Oval Office, according to The White House Historical Association. Between 1966 and 1977, the Resolute Desk was part of a traveling exhibition before it was put on display at the Smithsonian.
Former President Jimmy Carter requested the return of the Resolute Desk in 1977, where it has remained since − except by George H.W Bush who used the C&O Desk.
Per The White House Historical Association, before its arrival to the White House, the Resolute Desk was a part of a British arctic expedition in 1852. During the expedition, the desk was abandoned and became trapped it ice. In 1855, the desk was recovered by an American whaler and Congress appropriated funding to refit the ship that the desk was on to England, as a gift to Queen Victoria.
Queen Victoria reaffirmed the U.S. friendship and constructed a new version of the desk, which was then given to Hayes, according to The White House Historical Association.
Beginning with the 19th president, Rutherford B. Hayes, every president has used the Resolute Desk, except George H.W Bush, who only used it for five months before requesting the C&O, according to The White House Historical Association.
The Georgian-style C&O Desk is made of walnut and features golden handles. The desk's acronym stands for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway because the desk was built for one of the railway's owners and later donated to the White House, according to Realtor.com.
George H.W. Bush was the first and only president − up until Trump − to utilize the C&O Desk.
Theodore Roosevelt Desk
The Theodore Roosevelt Desk was crafted for the former president in 1903. It resided in the West Wing until 1929, in which it was stashed until former President Harry S. Truman took it out of storage in 1945, according to Realtor.com. Former Presidents Eisenhower, Woodrow Wilson and William Howard Taft are among others who signed legislation on the desk.
Today, the Theodore Roosevelt Desk is housed in the Vice President's Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
The Johnson Desk
Upon taking office, Johnson requested that a new desk be made for the Oval Office by the Senate's carpenters, according to Realtor.com. Johnson was the only president to ever use the desk.
Today, The Johnson Desk is located at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.
The Hoover Desk
During former President Herbert Hoover's presidency in 1929, a fire severely damaged the West Wing of the White House, including the Oval Office. The president's desk survived the fire, but when new furniture was installed, so was a new desk.
A gift from the Grand Rapids Michigan Furniture Manufacture's Association, Hoover's desk was made of American wood and a Michigan maple veneer, according to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
When former President Franklin D. Roosevelt took the presidential office next, he continued to use Hoover's desk. On the desk he signed the New Deal, declarations of war with Japan and Germany and the GI Bill, according to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
The Wilson Desk
Despite what folks may think, The Wilson Desk was not named after former President Woodrow Wilson. Perhaps it was named after the early Vice President Henry Wilson, Realtor.com hypothesizes.
Former Presidents Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon both used the mahogany desk. Today, it is on display in the Vice President's Room in the U.S. Capitol.
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump removes Resolute Desk from Oval Office for refinishing