When President Donald Trump sat down in the Roosevelt Room to sign four new pieces of legislation into law Monday, the desk he eased himself into wasn’t quite what he was expecting.
“This looks like a child’s desk! But that’s OK,” declared the President as he assessed the low wooden table, which put him well underneath a crowd of lawmakers and officials assembled to watch the signing.
“This is the smallest desk I’ve ever seen,” Trump said of the table, which was affixed with a full-sized presidential seal.
“Very, very glamorous, right?” mused the President as the guests laughed loudly.
Normally, presidents are photographed signing bills at the hulking Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. That historic boxy piece of furniture was crafted from timbers of a 19th-century Arctic exploration ship.
But when a president signs a measure in another room, or outside of Washington, alternate accommodations must be made — hence the portable signing desk on Monday.
