and replaced with the C&O desk.
.
since the room’s construction in 1909 as a symbol of one’s presidency, along with providing a practical workspace.
that the Resolute Desk needs to be refurbished, and has instead opted to bring in a “beautiful,” albeit “temporary,” replacement.
“A President, after election, gets a choice of 1 in 7 desks,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday, appearing to skew his figures.
C&O stands for Chesapeake and Ohio Railway as the desk was originally built for the company’s owners. It was donated by the GSX corporation, a mass rail transit company, to the White House in 1987.
while the Resolute Desk is being lightly refinished—a vital job. This is a beautiful, but temporary replacement!”
and used by every president bar Georgie H.W. Bush, who opted for the C&O Desk. Bush Sr is the only president to use the C&O Desk, marking it as the shortest-serving desk to date.
Other incumbents, such as Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan used the C&O desk in the West Wing Study.
Only three presidents are believed to have not used the Resolute Desk at all in the West Wing: Lydon B Johnson, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, according to the White House Historical Association.
The Resolute Desk was first used in the Oval Office by John F Kennedy in 1961. After JFK’s assassination in 1963, which saw Johnson ascend to the Oval Office, he selected the Johnson Desk.
After being retired, the Resolute Desk was then displayed in the Smithsonian between 1966 and 1977, when Jimmy Carter returned the Resolute Desk to the Oval Office.
Most recently, the Resolute Desk was used by Democratic former presidents Biden between 2021 and 2025 and Obama between 2009 and 2017. Trump also used the desk in his first term between 2017 and 2021.
has contacted the White House for more information.
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