Bessent and Trump respond to Obama’s White House renovation criticism

Barack Obama criticized Donald Trump’s White House renovations at a campaign rally in Ohio on Saturday.

Obama joked that the changes made the White House look like a Cheesecake Factory, referring to Trump’s use of gold décor and projects including a ballroom.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent answered with a jab at the Obama Presidential Center, which is being built in Chicago.

He compared its design to “Darth Vader’s tomb” and said he had lunch at a Cheesecake Factory in Washington, D.C. Trump also fired back at Obama during a rally in Mississippi on Monday night, though the account of his remarks gives no further details.

The exchange links political criticism of two major building projects, but the sources do not describe any change to either project as a result.