In his bid to redecorate Washington, Trump wants ‘magic paint’ to make Historic landmark white, even if experts say it will cause ‘permanent damage’

President Donald Trump is pushing forward with a plan to coat the historic Eisenhower Executive Office Building in what he calls “magic paint.” It is a move that preservationists warn could cause permanent damage to the landmark. 

Trump is set on transforming the appearance of the 19th-century granite structure by painting it a bright shade of white. Per People Magazine, the administration will be officially submitting renderings to the Commission of Fine Arts for review. These documents offer two distinct paths for the building: one that covers the entire exterior in white paint, and another that leaves the basement exterior exposed while painting the rest of the facade.

Designed by Alfred B. Mullett and Richard Von Ezdorf in the French Second Empire style, the structure has been a National Historic Landmark since 1969. It has, over its lifetime, housed the State, Navy, and War Departments. It has also provided office space for the Vice President and White House staff. Despite its rich history, Trump told Fox News that he considers it an ugly building, famously remarking that gray is for funerals.

This is like watching one of those horrible restorations in real time

The president is pinning his hopes on a specific product he refers to as “magic paint with silicate.” In private documents, he has claimed that this paint would strengthen the stone, keep water out, prevent staining, and require very little maintenance. However, the expert consensus is far less optimistic. 

A panel of 25 preservation experts, assembled by the DC Preservation League and Cultural Heritage Partners, has concluded that mineral silicate paints are simply not suited for granite. Their findings are blunt: the granite will not chemically bond with this paint, and priming the stone will likely lead to permanent damage. The experts also noted that the paint would not prevent staining, which would be much more visible on a painted surface.

The tension over this project is part of a much larger trend of architectural shifts in the capital. According to Dezeen, the Trump administration is using architecture to reshape Washington at a pace that is truly unprecedented. Trump has been utilizing design to cement his legacy and align the built environment with his personal policy goals. 

As MIT associate dean Lawrence Vale explained, these changes are less about style and more about the capacity for a regime to control the visible landscape. It is a strategy that mirrors the actions of global leaders throughout history who have used their positions to alter their capital cities to reflect their authority.

This building frenzy is evident across the city. From the demolition of the East Wing at the White House for a ballroom to plans for a massive 250-foot-tall arch near the Lincoln Memorial, the capital is undergoing a rapid transformation. The administration has even restaffed advisory bodies like the Commission of Fine Arts with supporters to ensure these projects face fewer hurdles. 

This approach shifts the balance of power away from the traditional reliance on trusted experts and toward total executive discretion. While past federal architecture relied on a blend of expert influence and government oversight, Trump has shown that this system was far more fragile than many realized.

The legal battle is heating up as well. The DC Preservation League and Cultural Heritage Partners have filed a lawsuit to stop the administration from moving forward without a standard review process. They are fighting to prevent what they characterize as irreversible alterations to the historic site. The administration, however,  has argued that the building has been neglected since the late 1800s and requires this intervention. 

It is fascinating, if concerning, to see how personal taste is being translated into permanent physical changes. When Trump showed a mockup of the all-white Eisenhower Executive Office Building to Laura Ingraham last year, he insisted that the white paint would bring out all the detail in the architecture. 

She disagreed, telling him that the rendering looked like a big white blob. Trump, however, living in his narcissistic delusional land, disagreed.