The Oval Office Is Now a National Monument. Here's What That Protects — and What It Doesn't.

President Trump used the Antiquities Act to shield the most famous room in America from major alterations. An Altas guide to the proclamation, the rooms it covers and the questions still open.

By Clara Hughes

Fresh off Tuesday’s elections, President Trump signed a proclamation on Thursday, Nov. 5, designating the Oval Office, the Outer Oval Office and the Cabinet Room as the Oval Office National Monument. “We’ve had tremendous victory in this office,” Trump said, ABC News reported. “So we’re making it a national monument, and it will not be allowed to be touched by anybody, destroyed, ripped down by stupid people, in order to build something in a slightly different shape.” Critics called it a vanity move. Supporters of the presidency as an institution may see something else: a president trying to protect the room where history is made. Here is what the proclamation actually says. Keep reading with Altas Premium. Below: the legal authority, the exact rooms covered, the four duties assigned to the Park Service, the carve-outs