Tearing down the Oval Office? Trump says he rejected Secret Service plan

As far as wrecking balls go, President Donald Trump draws the line at the Oval Office.

The builder-in-chief may have bulldozed the East Wing and threatened to demolish the Kennedy Center , but when faced with the prospect of razing the presidential office, the president said he dispelled the notion outright.

Trump said the U.S. Secret Service had suggested the place be "taken down."

"I see the Secret Service looking, and I say, 'What are you guys looking at?' 'Sir, we think the Oval Office should be taken down, and we'll build a new one, sir,'" he told Time Magazine in an interview published on Oct.1.

See how Trump blinged out the Oval Office he inherited from Biden

"I said, 'My a--, you can't build a new one. This is a special place.'"

Within months of taking the White House for a second time last year, Trump bathed the Oval Office in a sea of gold .

Gold-colored appliqués on the fireplace, gilded mirrors and ornate Rococo-style 18th and 19th century dessert stands and flower vases from London and France sit on the mantle. Crown molding and decorative plaster are on the ceiling, and doorframes are highlighted by gold paint. A cursive gold script sign reading "The Oval Office" was installed next to the West Wing entrance.

"I picked it all myself," he said last year marveling at his flourish. "I'm very proud of it."

Aside from gilding the Oval Office, Trump, whose background is in real estate, has reshaped the nation's capital and the White House with various construction projects and demolitions.

Most recently, he argued that without his name and fundraising recognition, the Kennedy Center would remain "decrepit" or need to be taken down.

But he told Time he wanted to ensure his own renovations in the Oval Office would be safe by preventing successors from altering his changes.

"This beautiful room that nobody should be allowed to rip down," Trump said, adding that he's asked his chief of staff Susie Wiles to look into making it a federal landmark.

Asked by Time if that meant that "no one can change what you've done" to the Oval Office, Trump replied : "No."

On Sept. 30, while addressing guests during a Hispanic Heritage Month event in the East Room, he described the White House as a "dump" which he had spent a lot of effort fixing.

"I have an obligation," he said. "The White House is a symbol of our country."

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal .