Trump brags about gilded Oval Office as Americans struggle

On Sunday, President Donald Trump bragged about the hideously tacky gold leafing he's defaced the Oval Office with, posting a video of the ugly gilded ornaments he's affixed to the walls and saying how great they look.

"Some of the highest quality 24 Karat Gold used in the Oval Office and Cabinet Room of the White House," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post alongside the video. "Foreign Leaders, and everyone else, 'freak out' when they see the quality and beauty. Best Oval Office ever, in terms of success and look!!! President DJT"

It's hard to imagine a more out-of-touch comment.

Trump is bragging about the taxpayer-funded decorations he's added to the Oval Office while Americans are struggling with inflation and the job market sours.

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Job growth is virtually stagnant, with job seekers outpacing job openings for the first time since 2021. Economists attribute the sagging job market to Trump's tariffs, as companies slow or even stop creation due to rising costs from the new taxes Trump unilaterally decided to impose on them.

And inflation continues to be stubbornly high, with the Personal Consumption Index—which measures the cost of both goods and services for American households—standing at 2.9%.

The failing economy is dragging down Trump's approval rating, which is currently the lowest it's been since he was sworn in back in January. Just 43% of Americans approve of the job he's doing, as opposed to 54% who disapprove, according to The New York Times' polling average.

The most recent nonpartisan poll in the average, which was from YouGov/the Economist, found just 36% of Americans approve of Trump's handling of jobs and the economy. An even lower 32% approve of his handling of inflation/prices.

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Americans said both of those issues are the most important issues to them, with inflation/prices in first at 20% and jobs and the economy in second with 12%. A plurality of voters at 35% also said the economy is poor, while 32% said it's just fair.

But don't worry, Trump is gilding the Oval Office, erecting gigantic flagpoles on the White House lawn, dining at a Mar-a-Lago-style club he used your taxpayer dollars to build in what used to be the Rose Garden, and is building a massive ballroom on the White House grounds that will dwarf the size of the historic White House building itself.

He’s doing all of that while having claimed the federal government is full of waste, allowing now-former co-President Elon Musk to put tens of thousands of federal employees out of work, cutting food stamps and Medicaid from the poorest Americans, and letting children in impoverished nations die because he said foreign aid is too costly.

But hey, at least Dear Leader has gold-plated Home Depot ornaments in the Oval Office!

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