President Barack Obama couldn’t resist taking a quick swipe at President Donald Trump and his gaudy decorating taste as he clowned around with comic Larry David in a true-to-life replica of the Oval Office from back in his White House era.
In a teaser of the 44th president’s cameo on HBO’s “Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness” released on Monday, Obama gave the TV set his seal of approval while joking about how much has changed since he left office in 2017.
“Nice job on the recreation,” he told the production team, which nailed every detail down to the bowl of apples Obama used to keep in the sitting area in front of the Resolute Desk.
As he continued to survey the scene, the Democratic bigwig teased, “I do want to point out there’s no gold sign on the outside that says ‘Oval Office.’”
“I can’t believe I didn’t think of that,” Obama added in a whiff of sarcasm.
Though most presidents add a few personal touches to the White House while they’re resident-in-chief, Trump has really made himself at home during his second term.
Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images
As well as slapping a shiny, scripted label outside of the Oval, he’s added gilded accents from floor to ceiling and sandwiched an array of ostentatious gold ornaments into almost every slot of empty wall space he could find.
Several of Trump’s other redesigns at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue have caused genuine controversy, like his decision to pave over the Rose Garden and plan to replace the East Wing with a lavish $400 million ballroom.
While the president went ahead and demolished the historic East Wing last October, this past Friday a federal appeals court panel ordered a halt to any more above-ground construction.
Undeterred, Trump has said he intends to take the renovation dispute all the way to the Supreme Court.
