Red button in Trump's office: What it is for and why scares everyone
Why Trump has a red button on his desk (photo: Getty Images)
Trump's inauguration took place on January 20, and while the newly elected US president was delivering his speech and taking the oath, the White House staff was quickly updating the Oval Office to suit the new owner's tastes. And along with many things, the red button on Trump's desk returned, performing an interesting function and scaring many people.
RBC-Ukraine dwells on this red button on Trump's desk, its functions, and why it scares everyone, regarding Metro.
How atmosphere being changed in Oval Office
The legendary red button located in a wooden box on the Resolute desk in the Oval Office of the US President is back again. And it's a must-have for Donald Trump.
In 2021, when Biden took office, he ordered that the button be immediately removed from the desk. The White House staff complied with this order, as the Oval Office is always redesigned according to the preferences of the new president. And they have only five hours to do it while the inauguration ceremony is going on.
Most often, carpets, curtains, paintings, and statues are changed are often replaced with items from the White House and government collections to match the new president's taste.
Why Trump needs red button
The red button on US President Donald Trump's desk is used to summon a butler with a chilled glass of Trump's favorite drink, diet Coke.
Trump said in a 2017 interview with the Financial Times that visitors often confused the Diet Coke button with the nuclear button and that everybody got a little nervous when he pressed that button.
A former White House communications aide said that Trump used the button to playfully confuse visitors to the Oval Office.
Chris Sims wrote in his book Team of Vipers that suddenly he had pressed a button. Not knowing what to do, the guests looked at each other with raised eyebrows. A few minutes later, a steward had entered the room carrying a glass filled with Diet Coke on a silver platter, and Trump had been laughing.
By the way, it is said that this button did not appear for the first time during Trump's first term. It was rumored to have been installed by Lyndon B. Johnson, who arranged for the button and the wooden box it was placed in so that he could be warned of the first lady's visit to the Oval Office.
Subsequent presidents took up the tradition and used a special button to call their aides. Richard Branson said in his memoir, Finding My Virginity, that Barack Obama also used buttons on his desk.
Branson wrote that as they all got up to leave, he had noticed the red buttons on Obama's desk. Obama had seen him looking at them and had said that they used to be there in emergencies, but now he used them to order tea for his guests.
But Biden decided to part with this gadget and solemnly removed it from his desk. But he left the golden curtains that were chosen during Trump's first presidency.
A special button on Trump's desk (photo: CNP/INSTARimages.com)
What else Trump added to his office
Among the interesting artifacts, portraits of the founding fathers George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson have returned to Trump's office. There is also a portrait of the populist Andrew Jackson.
Also, there is a bust of Winston Churchill, a sculpture by Frederick Remington “The Bronco Bandit”. Trump decided to keep the portrait of Benjamin Franklin and the bust of Martin Luther King from his predecessor.
