Trump Official Proposes Replacing 200-Year Old White House Columns

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

A Trump administration official is proposing an ornate upgrade to the 200-year-old White House columns at the building’s main entrance, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

Rodney Mims Cook Jr., the Trump-appointed head of the Commission of Fine Arts, wants to replace the Ionic columns with fancy Corinthian columns, like those at the U.S. Capitol and the Supreme Court, the report said.

Trump has used Corinthian columns on his properties, and plans to install them in his $400 million White House ballroom, as well, according to The Post.

“Corinthian is the highest order [of column], and that’s what our other two branches of government have,” Cook told The Washington Post.  “Why the White House didn’t originally use them, at least on the north front, which is considered the front door, is beyond me.”

A White House spokesperson said there were “no plans” to change the current columns, and Cook said he has not directly discussed his idea with Trump.

“But Cook’s proposal to overhaul the front entrance to the White House, known as the North Portico, reflects a common dynamic in Trump’s Washington, where the president’s deputies and allies often anticipate and implement his desires — and frequently upend decades of tradition and norms in the process,” the report said.

The Post asked Steven Semes, a professor and expert in classical architecture, about the proposal.

“The Corinthian would be inappropriate for the Executive Residence,” Semes said, warning that it would “harm” the original design.

Semes said the Ionic columns evoke “the character of dignity, grace and a kind of intimacy or domesticity,” of the People’s House, while Corinthian columns are “used to express the height of formality and monumentality” for buildings like the Capitol.

“Several former federal arts commissioners expressed similar concerns, adding that any changes to the executive mansion should go through a formal review process,” the report said.

Trump skipped the formal review process before tearing down the East Wing of the White House to begin construction on his 90,000-square-foot ballroom. The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued the Trump administration in December over work that had already begun.

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