Trump says he rejected Secret Service plan to tear down Oval Office

President Trump said he told the Secret Service that he wouldn’t allow for the Oval Office to be demolished.

Trump was asked what he would miss the most about the White House when he leaves office at the end of his second term, and the president spoke about the historic West Wing office.

“This beautiful room that nobody should be allowed to rip down,” he said. “The Oval Office.”

Trump said he had seen Secret Service agents looking around the room.

“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 Thursday .

“I said, ‘My a–, you can’t build a new one. This is a special place,'” the president continued.

Trump decked out the Oval Office with gold appliques and gold frames, along with gold trim to the crown molding. He decked out the presidential seal on the Oval Office’s ceiling with gold and put gold signage outside the door saying, “The Oval Office.”

He said in the interview that he’s been considering landmark status for the Oval Office.

“I’ve been asking Susie for six months to give me a statement. Will we save this room? Will we make it a federal landmark?” Trump said, referring to his chief of staff, Susie Wiles.

While he feels strongly about the Oval Office, he has made other changes to the White House.

Last October he demolished the East Wing to make space for a 90,000-square-foot ballroom. He also paved over the Rose Garden, adding tables and chairs, and redid the Palm Room.

He added gold-framed photos of past presidents along the West Wing Walkway and Colonnade, and replaced its flooring with dark granite.

The president also made changes to the Cabinet room and added flags to the North and South lawns, along with a helipad .

In his interview he said the White House was a “dump” that he fixed up.

“The White House is a very special symbol,” he said. “It’s a symbol of America. It’s a symbol of our greatness.”

“And I said, ‘I got to fix it.’ And I do that better than anybody else,” Trump added. “Maybe I do it better than anything I do, and it’s easy for me. It’s actually relaxing. You know, for a lot of people, it drives them crazy.”