President Donald Trump’s gold-drenched Oval Office has a new fan in JD Vance — but the internet brought receipts. Old viral clips of Vance revealing questionable thoughts about Trump are resurfacing just as questions about the president’s health grab fresh headlines, turning flattery into a tell.
Vance gushed about his son adoring Trump’s redesign of the Oval Office.
“His favorite color is gold. And whenever he walks into the Oval Office, he’s just blown away by it because it does have a bright, lively feel,” Vance said in an interview published Aug. 28 with USA Today about his son Vivek’s favorite color.
“And I think it’s fitting for, again, the place where the leader of the free world comes to work every day.”
But Vance’s praise is hitting a wall online with critics saying it’s “so obvious he’s faking it,” pointing to resurfaced footage of the Ohio Republican torching Trump before his rise in GOP politics.
In the past, Vance openly called himself a “Never Trump guy” and labeled Trump an “idiot,” according to Politico.
He didn’t stop there. In a New York Times op-ed, Vance wrote that “Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.” Vance wants everyone to forget about his previous comments and admitted during the 2024 vice presidential debate that “he was wrong.”
Now he’s in the White House with Donald Trump who went to town remaking the President’s formal workspace with gaudy, bling-laden golden accents, including the room’s 18-foot-6-inch ceiling. He added gold curtains behind the Resolute Desk, gilded tables supported by gold eagles and elaborate shiny filigree on the walls and fireplace.
He also added golden flower vases across the mantelpiece, hung enormous, gilded mirrors and reframed paintings of former presidents in ornate gold frames. Additionally, Trump added gold trim details along the ceiling and doorways and even painted the cherubs inside the door frames gold.
And of course the garish remodel wouldn’t be complete without gold coasters stamped with Trump’s name and the number 47, for the 47th president.
Vance told the news outlet that he was impressed and “overwhelmed” by the office when he first visited after he and Trump won the 2024 presidential election.
“But if I was being honest, it was the middle winter, the drapes were closed. It was very dark,” Vance said.
“It had kind of a dark and gloomy feeling. This is the workplace of the leader of the free world. It should be a little brighter.”
The now viral video of Vance’s earlier Trump criticisms is now being shared alongside his Oval Office praise, reframing the compliments as strategic flattery rather than sincerity.
“Vacation Vance is a complete phony. He became what he detested and it’s so obvious that he’s faking it all right now,” one Threads user wrote.
Another argued: “He can’t stand Trump! He’s only using him to get in the White House to carry out Project 2025.” One asked simply, “How can Trump trust him?”
View on Threads
A third remarked with a full thesis: “I’m also in conspiracy mode because what if this was JD and Peter Thiel’s plan all along. They knew Trump wasn’t going to last a presidency and maybe even manipulated those odds as well…”
The commenter continued, “…Thiel bought Vance’s way into VP so when the inevitable happened, Thiel could “take the throne” (sort to say) & JD Vacation wouldn’t care either way as long as he got a few bucks and a couch to f***. They’ve already mentioned how they want to turn DC into a billionaire colony…”
Some wonder if MAGA will hold up under Vance’s leadersip and whether MAGA will follow in lockstep. “If he does pass on, MAGA will collapse. They won’t follow orders from JD Vance,” said one Threads user.
Vance, for his part, has tried to steady the narrative. In an interview last week with USA Today, he insisted Trump is in “incredibly good health,” adding, “Yes, terrible tragedies happen… But I feel very confident the president of the United States is in good shape, is going to serve out the remainder of his term… And if, God forbid, there’s a terrible tragedy, I can’t think of better on-the-job training than what I’ve gotten over the last 200 days.”
That moment seemed to come nearer for Vance this past weekend. After several days without public events and growing concerns about his health thanks in part to viral photos highlighting bruising on his hand, swollen ankles and too many mental slips to count, speculation of Trump’s passing was running rampant across social medial. By Saturday morning, Trump was photographed on the golf course at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virgina, only partially putting the rumors to rest.
