Can You Spot the HUGE Difference Between Trump’s Oval Office and His Modern Predecessors?

The Trump White House recently went through a lengthy renovation. The nearly three weeks of work fixed structural and foundational elements of historic White House rooms but also added the decorations and look that the Trump administration requested.

Each presidential administration has its own special design qualities. No two administrations’ White House decor look the same, and sometimes the decor changes at a president’s whim.

John F. Kennedy had the White House remodeled three years into his administration. The Trump remodel happened seven months into his administration. Here is what the Trump Oval Office looks like today after a fresh redesign:

Those with a keen eye will be able to see something very special about the Trump Oval Office that separates it from all of his modern-day predecessors — and many of his predecessors from earlier in the century. Can you spot the difference looking at these photos of the last presidents’ Oval Offices?

Harry S Truman:

Dwight D. Eisenhower:

John F. Kennedy:

Richard Nixon:

Gerald Ford:

Jimmy Carter:

Ronald Reagan:

George H.W. Bush:

Bill Clinton:

George W. Bush:

Barack Obama:

Did you see it?

The difference is here:

These special flags represent the armed services of the United States. But not only are they the battle banners of the Armed Forces with campaign ribbons attached to them, these are the real deal. And they flank the president’s desk for the first time in nearly 50 years.

More from James Fallows at The Atlantic, who first noticed the difference:

Most previous presidents contented themselves with two large flags behind their desk. One, naturally, is the stars-and-stripes American flag. The other is the blue flag bearing the presidential seal. Trump has at least tripled that: In the photos of the new Oval Office, we see three U.S. flags and three presidential ones.

But that’s not all. As commander-in-chief of all United States armed forces, the president is frequently in places where the battle flags of the five branches of service are displayed. (For the record: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Air Force.) Those flags are adorned with “battle streamers” for the campaigns in which the services have seen action. There are a lot of these streamers. The Army’s flag has nearly 200, which hang so densely that it’s hard to see the flag itself.

Fallows also notes that Nixon and LBJ had historic photographs with the armed services flags inside their Oval Office decor but set up in different locations than Trump.

I’m sure there will be many explanations on both sides as to why Trump has decided to prominently display the banners of our Armed Forces while his predecessors stuck with the presidential flag and the American flag flanking their desks.

However, I think we can all agree, in an era when the American serviceman faces as dark a challenge as ever from evil in the world, the commander in chief showing some extra respect is appreciated.

Source: Conservative Daily