Photo: TruthSocial/@realDonaldTrump
You’ve certainly heard of the Lincoln Bedroom in the White House. But were you aware that there is also a Lincoln Bathroom? No? Well, it’s probably for the best, because it was a total dump!
Until Donald Trump got his hands on it, that is:
Photo: TruthSocial/@realDonaldTrump
As Trump revealed in this Truth Social post on Friday, the bathroom off the Lincoln Bedroom has been renovated as part of his ongoing Midas-like effort to add gold to just about every surface in the White House. Here’s a closer look at the Art Deco–style “before”:
And here’s the “after”:
Trump then sent out an additional six Truth Social posts showing off photos of the renovation. Here’s a small sample:
If the goal was to make people using the Lincoln Bathroom feel like they are trapped in block marble, the renovation clearly succeeded. But Trump said his main issue was historical accuracy, complaining that the previous design “was totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era.”
“I did it in black and white polished Statuary marble,” he explained. “This was very appropriate for the time of Abraham Lincoln and, in fact, could be the marble that was originally there.”
Marble walls and floors with polished gold fixtures certainly weren’t common for bathrooms of the time — nor was indoor plumbing. The Springfield, Illinois, home where the Lincolns lived before he was elected president had an outhouse, which you can still visit:
Photo: Carol M. Highsmith/Library of Congress
The family quarters in the White House were an upgrade for the Lincolns simply because the residence had indoor plumbing. However, when they moved to Washington in March 1861, Mary Lincoln was disappointed to discover that many areas of the White House were worn down. She embarked on a massive renovation project, according to WhiteHouseHistory.org:
Concluding that it would be “a degradation” to subject her family and her guests—to such surroundings, the new first lady launched a monumental redecorating project, purchasing new carpets, draperies, wallpaper, furnishings, china, and books, and modernizing plumbing, heating, and lighting.
Abraham Lincoln was furious when his wife overran a congressional appropriation allocated for the renovation by about 30 percent. After Mary spent $7,500 on furniture, including the Lincoln Bed, in the fall of 1861, she sent Commissioner of Public Buildings Benjamin Brown French to deliver the bad news to her husband. As the First Lady predicted, he was irate.
“It would stink in the nostrils of the American people to have it said that the president of the United States had approved a bill over-running an appropriation of $20,000 for flub dubs for this damned old house, when the soldiers cannot have blankets,” he shouted at French.
So perhaps Trump decking out a White House bathroom in marble and gold just as millions of Americans are poised to lose SNAP benefits due to a government shutdown actually wouldn’t go over well with “Honest Abe”? But at least we know Mary Lincoln would have loved it!
