Donald Trump is leaving his trip to China with a keepsake that will restore a White House fixture he destroyed.
The 79-year-old president loves a renovation project and has been leaving his mark on the national historical landmark since returning to office for a second term.
Thus far, he has covered walls with gold fixtures and labels, paved the West Wing Colonnade walkway with charcoal black granite to accent his “Presidential Walk of Fame,” and demolished the East Wing for the work-in-progress ballroom.
He also controversially removed decades-old flower beds and trees and paved the Rose Garden, transforming it into a Mar-a-Lago-inspired Rose Garden Club.
For many, Trump’s design touches are leaving the White House in a somewhat unrecognizable state. But while in China, he appeared to have a change of heart during a meeting with President Xi Jinping.
The two leaders were walking through the Zhongnanhai gardens when the 79-year-old American president noticed some flowers.
US President Donald Trump was struck by the size of the roses during a tour of Zhongnanhai gardens in Beijing, so President Xi Jinping offered to send him some.
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 15, 2026
Xi praised the new 'constructive and strategic' relationship with the US, before Trump concluded his China trip. pic.twitter.com/lAd2UyjN7g
“These are the most beautiful roses anyone’s ever seen,” said Trump. “I asked the president, ‘Could you get me some for the Rose Garden?’ And he said yes. I’ve never seen roses so big.”
The international leader later confirmed to the media, “I mentioned that I would arrange to send some of our Chinese rose seeds as a gift.”
Jinping also shared that the imperial garden boasts trees over a thousand years old. Trump may have been in awe of the nature surrounding him, but social media users saw the moment as epic trolling of his White House projects.
“This is humiliating,” said one viewer.
IG Threads users wrote, “How clever of Xi showing how the Chinese treasure their gardens, especially rose gardens,” and “Rose SEEDS! So he won’t live to see them bloom! Another not so subtle dig at the ape that paved over the Jackie Kennedy Rose Garden. Well done!”
Trump: I want to welcome you to the Rose Garden. This used to be grass. I took a little heat from my wife. She said, darling, what did you do with my grass? pic.twitter.com/fAxW6A7Hsi
— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) May 11, 2026
Trump poorly tried using women as scapegoats in defense of his Rose Garden remodel. He told Fox News, “You know, we use [the Rose Garden] for press conferences, and it doesn’t work because the people fall… Women, with the high heels, it just didn’t work.”
The U.S. president previously admitted that first lady Melania pushed back on the “upgrade” too. He told the media, “I took a little heat from my wife. She said, ‘Darling, what did you do with my grass?’ I said, ‘People get tired of standing in mud.’”
A third user commented, “And a very old Magnolia tree,” recalling the removal of six large trees honoring Presidents Warren G. Harding and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Moreover, Trump’s sweeping changes expand beyond the gates of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. He plans to install a 250-foot arc — which veterans are pushing back on — in the Capital and has already begun painting the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool blue, in yet another move that has angered voters.
