Barack Obama couldn’t help but get a dig in at his successor as he toured a recreation of his Oval Office.
The former president appears in behind-the-scenes footage posted to HBO’s YouTube page on Monday to promote his and Michelle Obama’s TV collaboration with Larry David, Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness. The footage shows the moment Obama enters a 2014 recreation of the Oval Office and notes the changes his predecessor made to the real-life version.
“Nice job on the recreation,” the president tells the show’s crew. “You even have the apples,” he says, acknowledging the fruit bowl. “It’s fantastic.”
“Although,” Obama adds, “I do want to point out—there’s no gold sign on the outside that says ‘Oval Office,’” to chuckles from those in the room. He then joked, “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”
The 44th president appears in the series premiere, in a brief cameo to introduce the show, and also in the series’ seventh and final episode, in which he plays a version of himself from 2014—the year of the incommensurate scandal over his now-infamous tan suit.
David, who plays fictionalized historical figures throughout the show’s comedic take on American history, plays an aide who spills a Mango Tango smoothie on the president’s navy blue suit. As a solution, his character encourages Obama to don the tan suit that would dominate the news cycle for months to follow. The episode premiered on HBO Max on Friday.
The newly posted footage reveals that Obama’s revisiting the recreation of his old office put Trump’s tacky makeover top of mind.
In December, Trump had gold cursive letters attached to the White House’s exterior, indicating where “The Oval Office” is located. That move was part of his extensive gilding of the historical house, which included 24-karat gold-leaf appliqués, doorframes, cherubs, and ceiling accents.
At a campaign rally in Virginia in November, Obama slammed Trump for being “focused on critical issues like paving over the Rose Garden so folks don’t get mud on their shoes. And gold-plating the Oval Office and building a $300 million ballroom.”
Trump, on the other hand, declared that D.C. was looking “better than ever” since his gold-infused makeover.
