Kathrine Frich
The book also highlights some unusual personal habits.
Arguing over furniture is normal when couples move into a new home. But the stakes get higher when that shared house happens to be the most famous address in America. One high-profile marriage is reportedly dealing with bizarre interior design drama.
Battle of the bedrooms
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump famously sleep in separate quarters. This historic arrangement echoes past couples like John and Jackie Kennedy.
According to the Daily Mail, journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan explore this domestic tension in their forthcoming book.
The authors explain that Melania claimed the traditional master suite. Meanwhile, her husband took over an adjacent space normally used as a living room.
But things took a strange turn when the administration moved back into the mansion. The president apparently decided he wanted the better room.
Missing furniture
While the first lady was away, decor started vanishing from public hallways. Trump was secretly moving items she had personally chosen into his own bedroom.
“In the early weeks of the new administration, items were spirited from the second-floor corridor into the President’s bedroom,” Haberman and Swan wrote.
“Once, when staff gently reminded the President that he was taking things from the Center Hall his wife had personally selected, he made clear he didn’t care,” the authors noted.
To cover up the missing pieces, anxious aides sent photos of potential replacements to Melania.
Wet carpets and snacks
The book also highlights some unusual personal habits. Trump insisted on putting carpet in his private bathroom.
The floor near the shower constantly flooded. Staff worried about mold, so they created a bizarre system of rotating carpet patches to soak up the water.
Cleaning up after him went beyond wet floors. Late-night snacking left his bedroom littered with empty ice cream tubs, potato chip bags, and coffee cups.
Workers even had to dig through his garbage. They discovered he was accidentally throwing away expensive White House sterling silver utensils.
Losing the larger fight
These small clashes eventually spilled outside the private quarters. The couple compromised on the Rose Garden by paving over the grass while keeping the bushes.
But the first lady lost a much bigger fight over her workspace. Trump ordered the demolition of the East Wing to build a new ballroom.
“Mrs. Trump, who preferred a quiet environment with minimal disturbances and objected to living in a construction zone, had repeatedly expressed concern about the size and location of the ballroom,” Haberman and Swan wrote.
Sources: Daily Mail
