From the paved Rose Garden to a massive ballroom, President Trump is aiming to put his personal stamp on the White House. But critics are railing against changes that could forever alter the look of the most famous address in the country.

In just his first few months since returning to office, Trump has rolled out a multitude of modifications both big and small to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

In the Oval Office, Trump, long a fan of the gilded look, added several golden accents, including a presidential seal featured on the ceiling over the Resolute Desk and trim along the room’s doorways. The workspace, Trump said in a March interview, “needed a little life.”

The cost of the shiny alterations was paid for by the president, according to the White House. 

That’s not the only time that Trump has said he opened his checkbook to make some decorative additions. In June, he announced he was gifting two of the “most magnificent poles made” to fly American flags on the North and South Lawn.

“It is a GIFT from me of something which was always missing from this magnificent place,” Trump said of the pair of flag poles. 

But it’s the ballroom that has stirred the biggest buzz and drawn the most flak.

The White House called the creation of the ballroom an “exquisite addition” when it announced plans for it in July. Crews broke ground earlier this month on the 90,000-square-foot space that will be the site of state dinners and other events. 

“For 150 years they wanted a ballroom at the White House. We’re building something here at the highest level. Using great architects. It’s very exciting,” Trump has said. 

The president revealed this month that the ballroom which is expected to be built adjacent to the White House where the East Wing sits and completed before the end of his term in 2029 would be a “little bigger” than initially planned when it was announced, with a capacity of 900 people instead of the estimated 650.

But the space’s scope and estimated $200 million price tag, which the White House has said will be paid through private donations, triggered an outcry from Democratic critics.

“It keeps getting worse,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a video posted on Facebook.

“Maybe he can park his new plane in the new ballroom. It’s probably big enough,” Schumer said. 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called the ballroom a “gigantic boondoggle,” while Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.) wrote on X that Trump would “dance blissfully” in the “fancy” ballroom built for him and his “rich buddies.”

“As you lose your job and the economy tanks due to his tariffs and mass deportations,” Soto said. 

But others say change is part of the game in the White House’s long history. 

“The history of the White House has evolved over 233 years since the cornerstone was laid in 1792,” White House Historical Association President Stewart McLaurin told The Hill in a statement when the ballroom was announced. 

“The South Portico, the North Portico, the East Wing, the West Wing, and the Truman Balcony all raised concerns at the time but today, we can’t imagine the White House without these iconic elements,” McLaurin said. 

Adding a president’s personal style at the White House is nothing new. The last major renovation took place in 1948, during Harry Truman’s presidency. But at that time, rather than a cosmetic concern, the first family was facing safety issues.

“The Truman renovation was absolutely something that had to happen,” said Kate Andersen Brower, journalist and author of the best-selling book, “The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House.”

“In fact, when Margaret Truman was playing the piano on the second floor of the White House there were guests in the East Wing, and the piano almost fell through the ceiling. It was a dangerous thing to be in the White House at that time,” Andersen Brower said.

Rather than safety hazards, Trump cited stiletto concerns when he renovated the iconic Rose Garden.

“The grass was not usable. Every time we’d have a press conference, women in particular were sinking deep into the mud, and at some point I said, you know, it’s time to make the change,” Trump said earlier this month.

Instead of grass, crews swapped in stone and added yellow and white-striped umbrellas, similar to those found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

A White House spokesperson touted the newly christened “Rose Garden Club” as the “hottest place to be in Washington, or perhaps the world.”

Yet some experts say the extent that Trump, a former New York City real estate developer, has been playing builder in chief at the White House is unprecedented.

“This is absolutely a builder’s dream, to be able to leave your mark on the country’s most famous house,” Andersen Brower said.

“This is about leaving his permanent stamp on the executive mansion,” she added.

“He wants people to remember his presidency,” the scribe said. “It will be hard to forget, but he’ll want people to remember what he did 100, 200, 300 years from now and this is the way to do it,” she said.

“This is something he’d want to do so that generations to come will remember him.”