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US President Joe Biden has given the Oval Office a slight makeover. Biden revealed the new decor as he invited reporters into his new office to watch him sign a series of executive orders hours after he took office. A bust of Cesar Chavez, the labour leader and civil rights activist, is nestled among an array of framed family photos displayed on a desk behind the new president. Also represented in sculptures are civil rights icons Martin Luther King Jr. And Rosa Parks. Benjamin Franklin peers down at Biden from a portrait on a nearby wall.
Joe Biden brought a dark blue rug out of storage to replace a lighter coloured one installed by former President Donald Trump.
One office feature remains: Joe Biden is also using what's known as the Resolute Desk because it was built from oak used in the British Arctic exploration ship HMS Resolute. Trump used that desk, too.
The US President has removed the `Diet Coke` button installed on the presidential desk by his predecessor Donald Trump, who was devoted to the soda drink. The device installed at the Resolute Desk wasn`t visible in photos of Biden captured at the White House.
"President Joe Biden has removed the Diet Coke button. When Tim Shipman and I interviewed Donald Trump in 2019, we became fascinated by what the little red button did. Eventually, Trump pressed it, and a butler swiftly brought in a Diet Coke on a silver platter. It`s gone now," tweeted journalist Tom Newton Dunn.
The Hill reported that Donald Trump, a soda devotee, reportedly had the button put in place on the Resolute Desk in order to "keep the carbonated beverages flowing". When pressed, a staffer would be summoned to provide the drink to the thirsty commander in chief.
Donald Trump would regularly consume 12 cans of Diet Coke a day, as per media reports. Ex-White House aide Chris Sims wrote in his 2019 book "Team of Vipers" that Trump would also use the red button as a way of pranking visitors by suggesting it could trigger nuclear capabilities, cited by The Hill.
"Out of nowhere, he`d suddenly press the button," Sims wrote of the former president. He added, "Not sure what to do, guests would look at one another with raised eyebrows. Moments later, a steward would enter the room carrying a glass filled with Diet Coke on a silver platter, and Trump would burst out laughing."
Even though Joe Biden may have gotten rid of the soft drink buzzer, he, according to reports, also has 'a similar taste in beverages'.
US President Joe Biden has unveiled his "wartime" national strategy to boost the fight against the raging COVID-19 pandemic, including making the coronavirus test followed by quarantine mandatory for all travellers coming from overseas. Announcing the measures, Biden said it would take months to defeat the pandemic but America would "get through this" if people stood together.
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