The Politics of Architecture: A Tale of Two Presidents, & Their Wives

It says so much about President Trump that he has redecorated the Oval Office to reflect the Golden Age he hopes to bequeath to America — resplendent in gold, honoring the heroes of our history, telegraphing to American visitors as well as foreign dignitaries that this is a nation of standing.

Then there’s President Obama’s soon to open presidential library, reflecting an urban vibe, or at least an affection for Stalinist architecture. Built at a cost of nearly $1 billion, the most expensive presidential library in history reaches far into the sky, as if to proclaim its president more important than any since George Washington.

True, some Trump fans find his taste in decor a bit over the top. And some Obama admirers may find it a bit tone deaf to demolish a park for this monument to self.

But in a funny way these assertions into the national landscape reflect their architects.

Trump is upbeat, transparent, circling the globe for good, negotiating peace accords and bringing home trade deals for America in the trillions. Obama is dour, slamming MAGA, playing the race card, mindful of his legacy, because his team is losing in the polls, and he is under fire for creating the Russian Hoax to take down Trump.

And then there are their wives.

The ever ungrateful Michelle Obama recently said that the Obamas did not get “the grace” accorded other first families. You mean like the reception the Obama White House gave Donald Trump when he first arrived at the White House in 2017?

The Obamas continue to play the victim card — as SavannahInsights put it on X, “Michelle Obama still fighting for the gold medal in the Oppression Olympics even though the Obamas are worth of $70M and got 100% positive press.”

She always has. On her husband’s nomination, in 2008, she said, “For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country.” Famously, she said of Republicans, “When they can low, we go high.” Wonder if Trump thought of that as Fulton County snapped his mugshot. “My parents taught me not to trust wealthy people,” said this privileged woman with several mansions, who also complained of the costs required to straighten her hair. She has a new book out on her “Look.”

Melania Trump, on the other hand, is grace personified. She rarely stops for criticism and writes private letters to Russian President Vladimir Putin urging him to release Ukrainian children kidnapped by his soldiers. Her taste in clothes is often breathtaking, and just as often mocked by “fashion journalists” who award points for politics when they choose their cover girls. The tally: First Lady Michelle Obama appeared on the cover of Vogue (3 times) Essence (2 times) Time (2 times) Glamour (2 times). First Lady Melania Trump has appeared on none.

In some sense this contrast between the gold splendor of Trump’s Oval Office and the squalid decay of Obama’s Library is also a mirror into the nation’s soul.

The Dems seem to be living in a culture of violence, endorsing tactics so vile that their only justification is that the ends — their grasp on power — justify the means. A left-wing assassin killed Charlie Kirk, the greatest apostle for Christ since Saint Paul, and another tried to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. On ‘No Kings” day, left-wing activists arrived with signs saying, “8647,” code for Kill Trump. Others wore t-shirts saying “Is He Dead Yet?” They regularly attack ICE officers, threaten their families, and call for the assassination of key Trump officials. So vicious are these threats, many on social media, that the Secret Service recently moved several Trump figures and their families to housing on military bases.

As if to validate violence, for Halloween, actress Julia Fox went as First Lady Jackie Kennedy — in the pink Chanel suit she wore the day of JFK’s assassination, the one she refused to swap for less traumatic clothing for LBJ’s swearing in. Jackie Kennedy said she wanted the nation “to see what they had done.” Fox said she was honoring Jackie, but no one was buying that. JFK’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, said “Julia Fox glorifying political violence is disgusting, desperate and dangerous.” And he’s a Dem.

Senate Minority Leader, in fear for his political life by the hot air he can feel on his neck from Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, recently said that Dems would not end the government shutdown until planes fell from the sky for lack of air controllers to guide them to safety. So, people have to die first. Failed candidate Beto O’Rourke recently said the quiet part out loud, urging Texas to redraw its congressional districts.

“F***k the rules,” he announced. “We are going to win whatever it takes.”

Exuberant v Defensive. Beautiful v Gross. Patriotic v Violent.

Is it any wonder Trump won in a landslide?