Trump's Golden White House Fantasy Revealed: Prez Gushes Over 'Tacky' Eagle Display for America's 250th Birthday — As His Renovation of Iconic Building Goes On
Donald Trump claimed the golden eagle was a 'gift.'
June 30 2026, Published 2:05 p.m. ET
Donald Trump proudly announced his supposed latest gold piece of decor at the White House amid rampant renovations – but it appears to be AI-generated.
On Monday, June 29, Trump, 80, took to Truth Social and shared a photo of a giant golden eagle with its wings outstretched between two pillars on the Truman Balcony of the White House.
Trump's 'Golden Gift' Explained
The image of golden eagle was reportedly generated by AI.
The golden bird was also holding a shield that looked similar to the American flag, but featured only 11 stars.
"A Golden Gift to the White House for its 250th Birthday Year!" the POTUS captioned the post.
However, minor differences to the balcony and metadata from the image that indicated it originated from Google AI helped determine that it did not appear to be real, according to CNN.
A freelance photographer also took photos of the White House at 9:30 p.m. on Monday night, revealing that there was not an eagle on the balcony at the time.
It is unclear if the White House was gifted a similar decoration that has yet to be photographed.
Trump's Faces Backlash Over Golden Eagle
Donald Trump was criticized for the post.
Regardless of its origin, the "golden gift" swiftly faced backlash online as it was compared to Nazi symbols, the double-headed eagle on the coat of arms of the Russian Federation and something out of a "comic book HQ."
"Trump’s hired [Vladimir] Putin as his decorator," playwright Paul Rudnick quipped on X. Meanwhile, writer Jo Carducci dubbed the decor "tacky."
Another X user called it "trashy as f--k," as a fourth person said, "Trump is turning the White House into a comic book HQ. Smh."
Donald Trump was called out for emphasizing gold decor as Americans worried about the economy.
Others slammed the president's apparent fixation with gold decor at the White House as many Americans struggle financially.
One social media critic said, "Only a billionaire president would be so tone deaf to continue plastering the People’s House in gold, when the average American can’t afford rent, gas, medical bills, or food," and another person simply added, "We can't afford rent or groceries."
Trump's Golden Renovations
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Kai Trump made a vlog revealing some of the golden renovations at the White House.
As Radar previously reported, Trump has sparked the White House's own "gold era" over his second term, renovating some parts of the historic building with gold trimming, fireplaces, ornamental moldings and more.
Even his vlogger granddaughter, Kai, joked about her grandfather's fascination with the theme in a recent video.
"We're in the Oval Office right now. So, everything is gold because my grandpa hates gold. So, he actually decided to add a lot of gold to the Oval Office. That's a joke. He loves gold," the social media influencer teased, speaking to her viewers. "This is like his favorite thing on the planet if you guys haven't noticed. But he loves gold."
"So, he added gold everywhere. Even that's gold now," she noted, referring to a large seal of the President of the United States that could be seen on the ceiling. "He has a very, very good attention to detail. So, everything that he thought should be gold, he made gold."
