Overview
- Harmeet Dhillon, the deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights, posted a photo on X with President Trump and referred to the framed document behind them as the Constitution, though it was the Declaration of Independence.
- The post drew swift ridicule and criticism online, including from journalist John Harwood, who said a senior Justice Department official should know the difference between the two founding documents.
- Dhillon later replied from her private X account, recasting her message as enforcing the Constitution and laws with the Declaration of Independence in the background.
- Reports note the Declaration has been displayed in the Oval Office only for a few months after Trump requested the original in March, with the White House ultimately exhibiting a copy.
- Coverage links the episode to Trump’s broader redesign of the White House, reported to cost about $300 million, including a proposed gilded ballroom estimated around $250 million and new gold accents and portraits in the Oval Office.