Trump signs order to make gold-decorated Oval Office a national monument – video

Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Thursday that he says will prevent future administrations from changing his design of the Oval Office and Cabinet Room, spaces he declared to be national monuments that should be preserved. Since returning to office, the US president has transformed the Oval Office with gold accents and statuettes, portraits of famous Americans pulled from storage and a copy of the Declaration of Independence that hangs on the wall.

The redesign has drawn criticism, including from the former president Barack Obama, who recently joked that 'he's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory. Just gold everywhere.'

• Trump signs proclamation to try to prevent changes to gold-covered Oval Office