US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order designating the White House Oval Office a national monument, in a move he says will protect the historic space from major structural changes by future presidents.

Trump announced the order on Thursday, arguing that the designation would prevent anyone from demolishing or substantially altering the presidential office, which he recently renovated.

“We’re making it a national monument, and it will not be allowed to be touched by anybody, destroyed, ripped down by stupid people, in order to build something in a slightly different shape,” Trump told reporters.

However, the order does not prevent future presidents from changing the room’s decorations or furnishings.

The document states that it does not “restrict the President’s authority to redecorate the monument, select furnishings, or make ordinary operational and security modifications that do not substantially impair the monument’s historic structure or architectural character”.

American presidents have traditionally enjoyed some authority to modify the White House, although major construction projects require congressional approval.

The announcement comes months after Trump ordered the demolition of the entire White House East Wing to make way for a new ballroom, a project that has attracted legal challenges.

The construction, which was not approved by Congress, has continued despite the controversy.

Speaking while signing the executive order, Trump described the Oval Office as an important national symbol.

“We like the Oval Office, and it’s a symbol, like the White House itself. It’s a symbol of our country and the greatness of our country.”

He also said world leaders who had visited the White House in recent months had praised the decorative changes he introduced.

Trump maintained that the office required extensive repairs before his renovation, describing it as “badly damaged”, with broken windows, cracked walls and damaged stonework.

Several of the changes made under his administration have been largely cosmetic. They include installing a large gold plaque bearing the words “Oval Office” outside the room, paving over the Rose Garden and adding a new helicopter landing pad.

Trump said the executive order would “make it impossible for anybody ever to destroy this incredible space”.

However, questions remain over whether a future president could reverse the designation or whether it would withstand a legal challenge.

Most executive orders can be overturned by subsequent administrations. Trump himself reduced the size of two national monuments in Utah in 2017, although the legality of revoking a national monument designation has not yet been tested in court.

The White House grounds already hold National Historic Landmark status, a designation intended to protect the property against sudden or inappropriate changes.

Under Trump’s new order, the National Park Service is directed to maintain the Oval Office “in a manner that protects its historic character, architectural integrity, and association with the Presidency”.

The document acknowledges existing protections for the White House but argues that “nonetheless, the Oval Office merits specific recognition and protective management as a discrete historic structure of national significance”.

Congress previously created an exemption to the National Historic Preservation Act to allow presidents to undertake necessary changes to the White House.

The current Oval Office dates back to the early 1930s, when it was conceived under President Franklin D Roosevelt.

Greg Werkheiser, a lawyer with Cultural Heritage Partners, a firm specialising in historic preservation, said presidents retained considerable freedom to make temporary changes to the office.

“As long as they’re not damaging the permanent art and architecture, they can generally do whatever they want,” he told the BBC.

Werkheiser, however, questioned the administration’s commitment to preserving historic sites, pointing to what he described as its record of disregard for other heritage locations in Washington.

He said the Trump administration had pursued legal challenges seeking to weaken laws designed to protect historic sites.

Describing the latest executive order as “hypocrisy”, Werkheiser cited Trump’s other proposed developments in the capital, including plans for a new triumphal arch, which a federal judge has temporarily put on hold.

“On the one hand he’s talking about the importance of preserving the Oval Office – which is legally meaningless because he can’t do it – and on the other hand he is absolutely taking an axe to the law that allows us to preserve other historic sites.”

Faddish Abdulkadiri

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