In my last post I detailed several ways that a female President of the United States would be treated badly by the press but Donald Trump gets a pass. I promised to follow up with more. And there are more.

Donald Trump is allowed to demolish and destroy, rebrand, restructure, and otherwise change the Washington landscape at will. The press observes but doesn’t criticize. Or, if they do venture a comment, it’s weak, on a subject over which they would not hesitate to destroy a woman’s character and reputation.

Typically, First Ladies have taken on decorating the White House, a tradition started by the elegant and cultured Jackie Kennedy. Yet when Michelle Obama created a vegetable garden on the White House grounds, The right-wing press—headed by Fox News—went berserk and the press reported it as if it were news instead of political assault.

The areas of contention listed below fall into one major category: redecorating and reorganizing Washington D.C.

A Woman POTUS in the Oval Office

Just imagine a Madame President who grew bored with the war she had started based on an assumption that proved to be wishful thinking. Unable or unwilling to deal with the consequences, she turns her attention to more traditionally feminine projects. Following in Jackie Kennedy’s cultured footsteps, but without Mrs. Kennedy education, she begins changing the White House environment.

Our fictional female POTUS also lacks Jackie Kennedy’s knowledge of history, interest in research, or just plain good taste. Instead, she gilds the lily, adding gold decorations and accessories everywhere. The more gold the better, turning the White House into Auric Goldfinger’s lair. (Actually, Goldfinger’s HQ was far more restrained than the Oval Office today.)

The criticism of the tacky, vulgar, tasteless results would be instantaneous, scathing, and blatantly sexist. Any woman can imagine only too easily how the male-dominated press would savage her.

Yet today, with a male POTUS behaving the same way, the press treats an Oval Office that makes Las Vegas look restrained almost like a joke. They might write about it but without judgment. If they mention it at all.

Trump as Interior/Exterior Decorator

It gets worse. Much worse. After invading one country and bombing eight others, Donald Trump got bored with the whole worldwide conflict thing and turned his short attention span to building and decorating. These include:

Oval Office:

• Adding a golden rug,
• Glueing golden ornaments to the portrait gallery wall and the fireplace,
• Repainting the ceiling decoration.
• Lining golden statues and trophies along the fireplace mantel.

The White House:

• Demolishing the East Wing.
• Adding faux-gold decorations to the Oval Office.
• Changing the drapes in the Cabinet Room and adding gold ornaments to the walls.
• Redecorating the White House Palm Room.
• Paving the Rose Garden.
• Creating a “Walk of Fame” in the West Wing Colonnade.
• Replacing the Tennessee granite floor in the West Colonnade with African marble.
• Renovating the bathroom in the Lincoln Bedroom.

Just imagine the outrage had Mrs. Obama replaced American stone with imported African marble in the West Wing Colonnade. Really. Fox News would have broadcast their fury at this African insult for weeks.

The White House Grounds:

• Removing the historic magnolia tree planted to commemorate Andrew Jackson’s late wife, Rachel, back in 1829.
• Tearing the rosebushes out of the Rose Garden and turning it into a patio.
• Adding two giant flagpoles.
• Creating a UFC arena on the White House lawn.
• Replacing the arena and a good part of the White House lawn with a concrete helipad.

Imagine if a woman POTUS had put a runway out on the White House lawn for an outdoor fashion show. She would have been attacked from all sides for destruction of the lawn for a silly event. But men beating up on men is okay with everyone.

Washington D.C.:

• Draining, repainting and destroying the Mall’s reflecting pool by driving over it with a motorcade before the paint had cured.
• Gilding the equine statues on the Arlington Memorial Bridge.
• Putting his name on the Kennedy Center.
• Hanging enormous banners with pictures of himself from federal buildings.
• Painting the Eisenhower Office Building white, which will erode the stone and require repainting every two years.

Criticism of a Woman POTUS

Any one of these frivolous, unnecessary, expensive and downright ugly changes would have earned a woman POTUS scalding critiques. The press and the male power structure would have come down on her like an avalanche. I can just imagine political cartoons showing her tripping back into the White House carrying a clutch of shopping bags with the Kennedy Center sticking out.

Who expected a male president to focus so bizarrely on renovation and redecoration when the economy is bad and midterm elections loom? No one. But does he get hits for it? Heck, no.

To be fair, Donald Trump has done so many awful things, broken so many norms, violated so many laws, and tossed so many regulations in the trash that anyone would find it difficult to follow up on them all. Compared to ICE murdering American citizens in the streets, running amok in Washington D.C. barely merits mention.

Ungilding the Oval Office

Keep in mind, however, that we will not be able to reverse some of his destructive changes overnight. Nor will it be cheap to do so when the time comes. We just don’t know how much it will cost to reverse them.

For example: No line‑item costs have ever been released for individual decorative additions to the Oval Office. These include the rug, ornaments, ceiling repainting, and mantle statues. Nor has the White House published receipts or procurement records for any of the gold additions. A spokesperson did claim that Trump personally paid for the gold accents but offered no numbers and no documentation.

Money and Taste

And that’s probably the smallest and cheapest of the changes that will take place when Republicans leave the White House. One of the things I have learned in life is that having a lot of money does not equate to good taste. We are seeing that roll out in real time right now. Only it’s at the American taxpayers’ expense.

Someday we will elect a woman President of the United States. Will the press parrot the full woman-hating treatment that will surely come from the Republicans? They did when Michelle Obama wore sleeveless dresses and planted a vegetable garden. I doubt very much that she will get the free pass they have given to Donald Trump.