Booger-gate? Trump removes White House Desk for “refinishing”

US President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the Resolute Desk has been temporarily removed from the Oval Office for refinishing, just days after an incident involving Elon Musk’s son sparked social media buzz.

Trump addressed the change on Truth Social, stating that the desk, which has been a staple of the Oval Office for decades, is undergoing a light restoration.

In the meantime, it has been replaced with the C&O desk, a piece previously used by President George H.W. Bush. “A President, after election, gets a choice of 1 in 7 desks,” Trump explained. “This desk, the ‘C&O,’ which is also very well-known and was used by President George H.W. Bush and others, has been temporarily installed in the White House while the Resolute Desk is being lightly refinished—a very important job. This is a beautiful, but temporary replacement!”

The C&O desk, originally crafted in 1920 for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, was later donated to the White House and has served multiple presidents, including Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan in the West Wing Study.

The sudden refinishing of the Resolute Desk comes after Musk’s son, X Æ A-12, was seen picking his nose and wiping it on the historic piece of furniture during a press conference on February 11.

Social media erupted over the moment, though there has been no official confirmation that the incident directly led to the desk’s temporary removal.

However, Trump, a well-documented germaphobe, has previously expressed his aversion to unhygienic practices. He once referred to handshaking as a “barbaric” tradition and reiterated in a 2017 press conference, “I’m also very much of a germaphobe, by the way, believe me.”