The White House Rose Garden is getting another redesign under the Donald Trump administration, and people do not appreciate what they’re turning the iconic piece of White House history into.
The Rose Garden was first designed under First Lady Edith Roosevelt, but the way most people remember it is from a redesign during the John F. Kennedy administration — a tasteful update that went on to host decades of meaningful White House events, including the wedding of Richard Nixon’s daughter Patricia. It also hosted soccer legend Pele. It was dignified. It was historical. It was classy.
The appeal of the Rose Garden has always been its storied history. President after president chose to follow tradition and maintain it. But during the first Trump administration, First Lady Melania Trump oversaw the first renovation. Since then, the White House has been more interested in matching modern, more risqué looks — and even hosting events such as a UFC tournament.
Melania Trump’s renovation modified limousine parking and made the overall space more accessible to people with disabilities. But when Trump took over for a second time, he made the controversial decision to pave the Rose Garden’s lawns. According to Town & Country, Trump told the press, “It’s going to be beautiful. It’s going to look — I think it’s actually going to look better. But some people would like to leave it. But the problem is you can’t. We had the press here yesterday. Do you see the women there? They’re going crazy. The grass was wet. Their heels are going right through the grass, like four inches deep.”
Trump then oversaw the installation of a white marble floor right in the middle of the Rose Garden, later congratulating himself: “We’re getting great reviews on the Rose Garden.” This is not the only White House renovation under Trump’s administration, so people were expectedly expressing their frustrations online.
A user on X commented on a photo of the new Rose Garden and pointed out how the umbrellas make it look like a flea market in Tallahassee. Another joked that Trump might start charging people to eat there. Many simply posted pictures from dining tables at Six Flags, pointing out the striking resemblance between the new Rose Garden in America’s single most symbolic building and a local amusement park. This is definitely a downgrade from what the public used to talk about the place.
If Versailles had a baby with a flea market in Tallahassee, and then left it unattended with a $300 budget and 48 hours to plan a wedding, this would be the result. https://t.co/RSAhbOUNWz
— Croaky Caiman 🐊🇺🇸 (@InstaGator2024) August 7, 2025
He’s going to charge people to eat there isn’t he?
— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) August 7, 2025
Looks like the dining tables they set up at a Six Flags Theme Park pic.twitter.com/g7uEBSl2Jj
— Showtime (@showtimehcky) August 7, 2025
Trump’s design choices and his curated social life have often been a source of amusement alongside the many more pressing controversies of his presidency. Every so often, in between aggressively campaigning for a Nobel Peace Prize and convincing Republicans to vote against Medicare, he’ll release a line of perfumes with golden bottles.
However, contrary to Trump’s claims, this is exactly the type of reception the Rose Garden is getting online: it looks tacky. It also looks unbearably hot in the middle of the day because stone doesn’t absorb heat like grass — which is probably why the place suddenly needs umbrellas in the first place.
Regardless, this will be an interesting asterisk in the garden’s century-old history.
Published: Aug 9, 2025 06:45 am