President Donald Trump’s gilding of the Oval Office has made waves across the world. The room is now full of gold-framed pictures, gold emblems hanging on the walls, gold curtains, coasters, vases and trophies. And beyond the Oval Office, the Trump-ordered White House ballroom is also expected to be drenched in gold, based on renderings of the space.

“Trump’s fascination for the color gold is documented for decades. Long before he became the president,” said Manahil Riaz, a psychotherapist in Houston and the owner of Riaz Counseling.

This is evident through the gold signage at Trump Tower and the gold-bedecked living room in a now-famous family picture of Trump, his wife Melania Trump and his son Barron Trump, who is riding a fake lion.

“It’s become a part of his visual signature,” Riaz said.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with liking a certain color and choosing to decorate your home and space with the shade, but therapists and experts in color theory told HuffPost the president’s penchant for gold could be highly symbolic. Here’s why.

“In color psychology, gold is associated with achievement, authority and status, or someone who places a strong emphasis on success and recognition,” Riaz explained. “Gold just becomes a visual shorthand for those qualities. So, this is what [Trump] wants to be associated with — achievement, authority and status.”

All the way back to Ancient Egypt, gold was linked to gods and the afterlife, according to Riaz. “Pharaohs were buried with gold objects because the metal itself symbolized eternal life, sacred authority.” In other cultures, such as in the Middle East, gold is gifted during major life milestones as a symbol of prosperity and generational wealth.

All over the world, when we see gold, we associate it with success or victory, added Denise Dudley, a clinical psychologist and behavioral expert. “Like the Olympic gold medal,” Dudley said.

Riaz noted that items and decor don’t actually have to be made of gold to represent these values. The color itself is a symbol for that, whether it’s gold-colored curtains or a real gold necklace.

“I think it’s a design choice that’s kind of representing him pounding his chest to show people that he’s in control and power, and people should be afraid of him and should come to him for advice and protection,” Riaz said.

“Somebody who’s showing off all this gold is probably trying to create a disparity between the haves and the have-nots,” Dudley said.

Meanwhile, the average person may not decorate their home with gold for many reasons, one being that they don’t want to be seen as “above” or “better than” other people, she noted.

“I would never want anyone to feel inadequate or to feel like I was showing off ... but that’s the opposite. Trump wants us to notice that he’s one of the haves, and he’s happy if he can point out the difference between he as a have and everybody else,” Dudley said.

Trump wants people to look at the gold decor within the Oval Office or the gold sinks at Mar-a-Lago (yeah, really) and understand that he is a “powerful guy” with “a lot of gold around,” Dudley said. “And I think part of it, too, is that he likes to create that disparity between ‘I have this, and you don’t have it,’” she added.

Riaz noted that there is always work to be done when you’re president, and doesn’t understand why major redecorating and ballroom-building are even on Trump’s agenda.

“How is that relevant to what’s happening in America? Which just makes me think I don’t think he knows. I don’t think he can empathize, I don’t think he understands what it’s like to be in scarcity and to not have power and control,” Riaz said.

“And ... what he decides to put his attention to is a reflection of who he is, which is unrelatable,” Riaz said.

According to Dudley, Trump’s use of gold throughout the Oval Office (and beyond) is an example of “identity signaling,” which is when “people use visual cues — that could be what my house looks like, that could be what I’m wearing — to show how they see themselves.”

“He’s got gold lettering and gold decor everywhere, and he paints everything gold, and it’s all gold, gold, gold,” Dudley noted. “And I believe that Trump is showing off his personal brand narrative ... of success and authority and dominance and winning over everybody else.”

“Similarly, there’s another thing in psychology called ‘status signaling.’ It’s almost the same, but in this case, it’s not so much me telling you who I am about myself by what I’m wearing or how I decorated my house, but it’s me signaling who I am to the world,” Dudley explained.

Historically, people used “fancy” materials like gold and marble to signal their status, Dudley said.

“That’s why Versailles looks like Versailles. It was Louis the 14th who was signaling that ‘I am the Sun King, I’m the most powerful man in the world,’” Dudley said.

Gold is visual shorthand for all of the attributes that the color represents (power, wealth, success), and Trump is aware of that, Dudley said.

Past presidents have also decorated the Oval Office to reflect their tastes and leadership style.

President Barack Obama installed a cream rug with quotes from past leaders on the border. President Joe Biden hung a portrait of Benjamin Franklin and displayed busts of notable civil rights leaders.

But the gold-drenched Oval Office is very different from these changes.

“It’s probably speaking back to his over-the-top personality and his belief that he is above the law, can do anything he wants and needs to sort of show his power as visually as possible,” Dudley said.

If nothing else, Trump is a showman, Dudley continued. “And so I think some of this gold thing could be that, too ... it’s like, ‘You guys are saying I use too much gold? Wait ‘til you see what I do next,’” Dudley added.

“I think, at the end of the day, the focus shouldn’t be on decor at the office or the aesthetics of gold when it comes to Trump,” Riaz said. “What really matters is governing and addressing the serious real-world issues that people are facing.”

The president has a responsibility to look beyond appearances and, instead, focus on people’s well-being, economic stability and how his actions impact the country and the world, Riaz continued.

“The priority should always be solving problems, improving conditions for citizens and not emphasizing visual grandeur or personal style,” Riaz said. “So, in conclusion, stop redecorating the office and focus on your actual job.”

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