Picture this: it's Independence Day, fireworks are being set up right outside, and House Speaker Mike Johnson walks into the Oval Office expecting to talk politics. Instead, according to "Regime Change" the new book from veteran journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan Trump grabbed a laser pointer and launched into an unplanned tour of the room's artwork.
The authors describe him aiming the beam at a portrait of George Washington first. "See the laser? It goes dim," he reportedly told Johnson. "You know what that's called? Expensive oil paint. Good oil paint." Then he swung the pointer over to a painting of Ronald Reagan and drew the opposite conclusion: "Nope. They used cheap paint on that one. See? The pointer doesn't dim. It's not dim with Reagan. It's dim with Washington."
From there, Trump reportedly kept going, walking Johnson through various pieces of furniture and décor with what the authors describe as genuine enthusiasm eventually landing on the room's gold detailing.
A Gold Debate With Melania Weighing In
Pointing the laser toward the ceiling, Trump allegedly floated the idea of adding even more gold trim, telling Johnson: "Look here at the top. Right here. Maybe just a trim line. What do you think? Because there's $2 million worth of gold here. But I want more. And there's Melania."
That's when the First Lady reportedly entered the conversation and didn't seem particularly sold on the idea of piling on more gold. Trump, explaining the disconnect to Johnson, summed up their differing tastes simply: "She's a minimalist. But this is the Oval Office. It just looks better."
It's a small moment, but one of many personal snapshots the book uses to give readers a sense of what daily life actually looks like inside the West Wing during Trump's second term beyond the policy headlines.
Separate Bedrooms and a Very Specific Restoration Project
The book has also generated buzz for what it reveals about the Trumps' living arrangements once they moved back into the White House. Speaking on The Bulwark podcast, Haberman said staff got the sense the couple wanted the residence returned almost exactly to how they'd left it down to small details.
Interestingly, she noted the Biden family hadn't changed much of the Trumps' original décor anyway. But since Melania wasn't around for the first several months of the new term, Trump reportedly took it upon himself to start placing items from the central hall back where he believed she'd want them.
Haberman also said staff got the impression Trump was, in a sense, trying to out-do his wife when it came to their bedrooms because notably, the couple doesn't share one. His room reportedly includes a carpeted bathroom, and staff apparently noticed he's a late-night snacker, to the point where they began keeping an eye on missing silverware they suspected was being tossed out along with food wrappers.
As Haberman put it on the podcast: "He lives how he lives."
Whether it's laser-pointer art critiques or bedroom rivalries, "Regime Change" seems intent on peeling back the curtain on the more human, sometimes quirky side of life at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue the stuff that rarely makes it into official briefings.
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