President Donald Trump, famous for his love of gold, toured the opulently gilded Versailles palace on Wednesday alongside French president Emmanuel Macron, ahead of the pair sharing dinner after the conclusion of the G7 summit.
“I’m a fan of beautiful places,” Trump said Tuesday of his decision to accept Macron’s invitation to tour the palace. “And Versailles is not a gold leaf. Versailles is the real deal.”
Upon arriving on Wednesday evening, Trump again praised its beauty, thanking the French president and First Lady Brigitte Macron.
“This is so beautiful, and we thank the president,” Trump told a group of waiting reporters. “Brigitte is an amazing woman.”
As photographers snapped pictures of the trio, a reporter shouted out a question about whether Trump would do more to support Ukraine in its war with Russia.
The American president smiled wordlessly and kept walking with his French hosts.
Inside, Trump took in the splendor of the palace, which features more than 1,000 kilograms of 22-carat gold across its iconic gates, sculptures, and interior trim.
Tourists outside complained that Trump’s visit shut down access to the French landmark.
“We came out here expecting to go inside,” visitor Ben Olson told The Associated Press. “That is not the case today as we learned upon our arrival, so it’s quite unfortunate.”
“I don’t know what they’re going to talk about,” he added. “I don’t know what their relationship is like. Personally, I dislike Trump, so it’s ever more disappointing that that’s the reason it’s closed today.”
Gold is the president’s aesthetic signature, adorning his company’s logo and the famous escalator in Trump Tower, which he used to announce his 2016 presidential campaign.
Since returning to office, the president has decked out the White House in numerous bits of Versailles-esque, gold-toned trim, and he and his aides regularly proclaim the U.S. is living through a new “Golden Age” under his leadership. He also rolled out a “gold card” visa for wealthy immigrants.
The Republican is so enamored with Versailles that he previously said he modeled a ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago club after the palace.
“I modeled the interior after Versailles, and there is nothing like it in the United States,” Trump said in a 2005 magazine interview.
Foreign leaders have picked up on Trump’s love of all things gold, often incorporating it into elaborate gifts.
Trump has gotten a golden pager from Benjamin Netanyahu, a golden replica crown from a Korean delegation, a gold-and-glass plaque from the CEO of Apple, and a gold Rolex desk clock from a group of Swiss leaders.
Versailles, whose gold-flecked incarnation was meant to embody the power and prestige of Louis XIV, the “Sun King,” eventually became a symbol of the decadence of the French monarchy.
A 1789 march on Versailles was among the key moments of the French Revolution, and Versailles continues to be used as a byword for opulent and out-of-touch leaders.
Doubters have referenced the French palace as part of their criticisms against Trump’s proposed $600 million ballroom complex at the White House, which is being funded through a mix of public money and high-dollar donations from large corporations.
“Trump could spend his time fighting childhood hunger, reforming healthcare, or building affordable housing,” Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts wrote on X in August of the project, sharing a rendering of the gilded ballroom design. “Instead, he’s focused on turning the White House into Versailles. His billionaire buddies get a tacky ballroom to feast on champagne & caviar. The rest of us? Let them eat cake!”
The president has embraced a similar royal preoccupation with fountains and classical monuments as part of his efforts to renovate Washington.
His administration has poured millions of dollars, thus far with uneven results, into cleaning up the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and the White House has proposed a French-style victory arch for the capital.
After the president’s dinner with Macron, he may stay in Europe to attend a signing ceremony in Geneva on Friday for a tentative deal to end the Iran war. He joked with reporters that he may not attend the ceremony, so that Vice President JD Vance will take the blame if the agreed-upon early-stage memorandum of understanding later falls apart.
“It’s very important,” Trump said. “But it might not be the kind of document I should be signing.”
“This way, if it works out, I’m going to take the credit,” Trump added. “If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD!”
