The White House is no stranger to controversy, but this week it found itself embroiled in a particularly colorful war of words—one that’s as much about interior design as it is about the soul of American democracy. The spat began when Jack White, the Grammy-winning musician and former frontman of The White Stripes, took to Instagram to lambaste President Donald Trump’s latest redesign of the Oval Office, describing it as a “vulgar, gold leafed and gaudy” transformation reminiscent of “a professional wrestler’s dressing room,” according to Billboard and The Daily Beast.
White’s critique, posted on August 18, 2025, wasn’t just about aesthetics. He shared a photo of Trump meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, using the image to highlight what he called the president’s “disgusting taste.” White didn’t mince words, writing, “Look at how disgusting Trump has transformed the historic White House. It’s now a vulgar, gold leafed and gaudy, professional wrestler’s dressing room. Can’t wait for the UFC match on the front lawn too, he’s almost fully achieved the movie ‘Idiocracy.’” He went on: “Would you even buy a used car from this conman, let alone give him the nuclear codes?”
Trump’s redecoration—featuring lavish gold accents, gilded molding, trophies, mirrors, swapped portraits, military flags, and a Rose Garden now paved with stone tiles—has replaced the more traditional decor that’s defined the Oval Office for generations. According to KTLA, these changes have drawn both praise from Trump loyalists and scorn from critics like White, who see them as emblematic of the president’s taste and values.
The White House, never one to let a public jab go unanswered, fired back swiftly. On August 19, 2025, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung dismissed White as a “washed up, has-been loser posting drivel on social media because he clearly has ample time on his hands due to his stalled career,” as reported by The Daily Beast and Billboard. Cheung doubled down, saying, “It’s apparent he’s been masquerading as a real artist, because he fails to appreciate, and quite frankly disrespects, the splendor and significance of the Oval Office inside of ‘The People’s House.’”
For White, the insult was a badge of honor. He responded on Instagram, “Being insulted by the actual White House that this particular conman leads is a badge of honor to me.” He didn’t stop there, labeling Cheung and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt as “professional liar toadies,” and accusing them of “covering up and masking [Trump’s] fascism as patriotism and fomenting hatred and division in this country on a daily basis.”
White’s criticism quickly expanded beyond interior design. In a lengthy Instagram statement, he accused Trump of “dismantling democracy,” referencing “gestapo ICE tactics,” “racist remarks about Latinos, Native Americans, etc.,” and “ignorance of the dying children in Sudan, Gaza, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.” White argued, “This man is a danger to not just America but the entire world and that’s not an exaggeration, he’s dismantling democracy and endangering the planet on a daily basis.”
He continued, “How funny that it wasn’t me calling out Trump’s blatant fascist manipulation of government, his gestapo ICE tactics, his racist remarks about Latinos, Native Americans, etc. No, it wasn’t me calling out any of that, it was the fucking DECOR OF THE OVAL OFFICE remarks I made that got them to respond with insults. How petty and pathetic and thin skinned could this administration get?”
White, who is set to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with The White Stripes in November 2025, has a history of sparring with Trump. Last year, White and his former bandmate Meg White sued the president for using “Seven Nation Army” in a social media post without permission—a suit they dropped in November. He’s also made political statements from the stage, altering song lyrics to jab at Trump’s lack of military service and political experience.
Trump, for his part, has not limited his musical feuds to White. Earlier this year, the president called Bruce Springsteen “not a talented guy — just a pushy, obnoxious JERK” after Springsteen criticized the administration during European concerts. Trump has also called for investigations into artists like Springsteen and Beyoncé over their involvement in campaign rallies for Vice President Kamala Harris.
White’s latest volley against Trump was especially pointed. He wrote, “He’s masquerading as a Christian, as a leader, as a person with actual empathy. He’s been masquerading as a businessman for decades as nothing he’s involved in has prospered except by using other people’s money to find loophole after loophole and grift after grift.” White catalogued a litany of Trump’s controversies, including his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, attempts to overturn the 2020 election, and what White called “obvious wimpy and pathetic kowtowing to the dictators Putin and Kim Jong Un.” He further described Trump as an “orange grifter” and “professional golf cheat,” arguing, “there is no progress with him, only smoke and mirrors and tax breaks for the ultra wealthy.”
Despite the heated rhetoric, White made clear he doesn’t identify with any political party. “And no I’m not a Democrat either, I’m a human being raised in Detroit,” he wrote. “I’m an artist who’s owned his own businesses like his own upholstery shop and recording label since he was 21 years old, who has enough street sense to know when a 3 card monte dealer is a cheap grifter and a thief.”
White closed his Instagram post by quoting President Theodore Roosevelt, who argued that treating a president as above criticism is both unpatriotic and “morally treasonable to the American public.” He also aimed a parting shot at Trump’s supporters, telling them to “enjoy” the president’s lavish White House upgrades—“He ain’t spending any money on helping YOU unless you fit into his white supremacist country club rich idiot agenda,” White wrote. “Wow, he hates who you hate....good for you, be proud of yourselves, how christian of you all.”
In the end, this latest feud is about more than just gold trim and stone tiles. For White, it’s a microcosm of what he sees as a deeper struggle over the direction of the country—a struggle that, for now, is playing out as much on Instagram as it is in the halls of power.
