The White House Rose Garden is almost unrecognizable as President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump continue their summer renovations.
A new photo taken on Tuesday, July 22, showed the large concrete slab that now rests where grass once covered the historic space, which was given a central lawn in 1961 at the request of President John F. Kennedy.
In a March interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, Trump explained the decision to put down concrete and design something more similar to a presidential patio.
“You know, we use [the Rose Garden] for press conferences, and it doesn’t work because the people fall,” he said. “The terrain can be wet, and the soft ground can be an issue for some… Women, with the high heels, it just didn’t work.”
When the renovations began in early June, a White House official described the new construction as a “restoration” and told PEOPLE that Donald and Melania “have deep respect for the history of the White House and for the Rose Garden.”
“This restoration to the Rose Garden preserves the beauty of the space and builds on the work done in 2020,” the official said, “with a focus on enhancing practical use and guest experience for those attending special events.”
Melania faced significant backlash when she initially changed up the Rose Garden in 2020. The first lady even made a rare public statement after NBC News presidential historian Michael Beschloss described her botanical vision as “grim.”
“Evisceration of White House Rose Garden was completed a year ago this month, and here was the grim result — decades of American history made to disappear,” Beschloss said in 2021, referencing the limestone border Melania laid down in the outdoor space, which often hosts speeches and receptions for visiting dignitaries, sports teams and more.
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Melania’s office fired back at Beschloss on X, sharing a different photo that showed the garden in full bloom.
“.@BeschlossDC has proven his ignorance by showing a picture of the Rose Garden in its infancy. The Rose Garden is graced with a healthy & colorful blossoming of roses,” her office wrote at the time. “His misleading information is dishonorable & he should never be trusted as a professional historian.”
While many disliked the severe look of Melania’s limestone border, the 2020 project did aim to improve drainage and sunlight to the Rose Garden, whose namesake flowers had failed to thrive over the years. Only 12 original rose bushes remained when Melania oversaw the addition of 200 new ones.
The updates — which are being completed by the National Park Service and funded by the Trust for the National Mall — are expected to be finished by mid-August 2025.
The new construction comes amid recent viral attention to Trump’s other changes to the White House, including the gilding of the Oval Office.
An April report in The Wall Street Journal revealed that the president had enlisted his “gold guy,” cabinetmaker John Icart, to create golden borders for his political portraits, gilded carvings for the fireplace mantel, a gold Trump crest in a doorway.
Icart has previously worked on projects at Mar-a-Lago, and the flashy style echoes Trump’s infamous Trump Tower apartment as well.
The updates are a stark contrast to the simple designs favored by past presidents like Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
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