[Video] Follow-Up: A Red 'VETO' Cap on the Resolute Desk as Trump Fires Back at Clinton's Renovation Criticism
Washington — As President Donald Trump signed a proclamation designating the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room a national monument at the White House on November 5, a red baseball cap sat on the Resolute Desk in front of him, emblazoned with the word "VETO" in bold white letters. According to the Associated Press, the cap remained prominently on display throughout the signing and the question-and-answer session — a pointed display of the veto power days after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress.
Democrats retook the House and the Senate in the November 3 midterm elections, and the new Congress takes office in January. Trump's messaging had been building in stages: in a New York Post podcast interview aired before the election, he said he would become "Mr. Veto" for a month or two before cutting deals; on election night he told Politico he would work with Democrats, while telling a CBS News correspondent before voting ended, "I have the ultimate power — it's called 'veto.'" At the White House on November 4, he said: "I'll get along, probably, with the Democrats, unless they want to be destructive, but I have the power of the veto." After the election he also shared an image of the red "VETO" cap on Truth Social.
During the same session, a reporter noted that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had criticized the gold fixtures he added to the Oval Office. Trump replied: "She did? I don't like her house either. I know her house very well." He went on to call the Oval Office "a place of victory" and "a place of prestige," gesturing at the white wall behind him and noting there was no gold on it.
Under the U.S. Constitution, the president may veto legislation passed by Congress, and overriding a veto requires a two-thirds majority in both the House and the Senate. Democrats are already preparing an oversight agenda for the new Congress; before that fight formally begins, the cap on the Resolute Desk has laid the president's leverage on the table.
Related: Trump Signs Proclamation Designating the Oval Office a National Landmark
(Source: Associated Press)
Source: Associated Press
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：特朗普在白宫椭圆形办公室坚毅桌前签署公告（2026年6月11日白宫官方照片，资料图）。白宫官方照片，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: President Trump signing a proclamation at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office (official White House photo, June 11, 2026; file photo). Official White House photo, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
