How much it costs to live in the White House as Trump's Oval Office renovation pictures leave people in disbelief

From a shiny new ballroom to gold plastered all over the Oval Office, Donald Trump hasn't been shy about his ambitious renovation plans for the White House.

Since his second term began in January, the 79-year-old American president has laid out plans for a series of dramatic changes throughout his place of residence.

It was announced in July that the Republican leader planned to fork out a whopping $200 million (£150m) from his own pocket, and those of mysterious donors, to fund the construction of a brand-new ballroom.

Trump described the move as a ‘much-needed' and ‘exquisite’ addition, outlining that the new room will be 90,000 total square feet and have the capacity to seat 650 people.

On top of this, the US president has also replaced the grass in the iconic White House rose garden with stone and broke tradition to move former president Barack Obama's official portrait in the East Wing further away from public view.

Have you ever wondered how much it costs to live in the White House and who foots the bill? (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

And now, people have picked up on some of the glaring differences in the Oval Office by comparing how it looks now to the way it was decorated back in 2022, when Joe Biden was president.

Someone shared a before and after on Reddit and people were seriously taken aback by the contrast.

The walls are now covered with portraits, which are all framed in gold, as well as a golden trim along the ceiling, and the fireplace can be seen decorated with golden urns.

And the golden details don't end there, as social media users have picked up on furhter embellishments, including coasters featuring Trump's name and a series of trinkets and decorations.

One Redditor wrote: "It looks like they raided every Hobby Lobby within 25 miles for any gold coloured decorations they could find and hung it on the wall."

The online chatter has raised the question of how it actually costs to live in the White House, and more importantly, who pays the bill?

Unlike the average person, it will come as no shock that Trump doesn't have to pay his own rent or utility bills while residing in the White House.

And even though he's not forking out personally, according to Yahoo! Finance, it's estimated that the annual cost of maintenance for Trump’s current home ranges from $750,000 to $1.6 million.

People have recently picked up on the not-so-subtle changes Trump has made to his place of residence (Bloomberg/Getty Images)

According to Fox Business, Trump's presidential salary is $400,000 per year, and as per US law, it gets paid out in monthly intervals.

On top of this, he receives an 'expense allowance of $50,000 to assist in defraying expenses relating to or resulting from the discharge of his official duties'.

And that's not all - there's cash put aside for travel and entertainment too, $100,000 and $19,000 respectively, reports CBS News.

Things that he reportedly does have to fork out for himself though includes money for groceries, household items like toilet paper and toothpaste, as well as luxuries like vacations and clothing.

As per Yahoo and the White House Historical Association, the president and their family are given a $100,000 sum for redecorating, however they must cough up the cash for anything above that themselves.

And if we can take a guess going by Trump's renovations, we'd say this is likely the case!