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The Trump administration has clapped back at Grammy-winning musician Jack White’s critical commentary on the president’s new-look Oval Office.White, former front man for The White Stripes, unleashed on Instagram on Monday, claiming that Donald Trump’s torrent of gold and gilded additions to the office were an “embarrassment to American history,” describing it as “a vulgar, gold leafed and gaudy, professional wrestler’s dressing room.”“Look at his disgusting taste, would you even buy a used car from this conman, let alone give him the nuclear codes?,” White said, posting a photo of the Oval Office. “A gold plated Trump bible would look perfect up on that mantle with a pair of Trump shoes on either side wouldn’t it?”Jack White is not a fan of Donald Trump or his taste in decor. / Leon Neal / Getty ImagesA gold coaster reading Responding to White’s verdict on Trump’s tacky decor, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told the Daily Beast: “Jack White is a washed up, has-been loser posting drivel on social media because he clearly has ample time on his hands due to his stalled career.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCheung added, “It’s apparent he’s been masquerading as a real artist, because he fails to appreciate, and quite frankly disrespects, the splendor and significance of the Oval Office inside of ‘The People’s House.’”White’s post has had almost 120,000 likes and is the latest of many anti-Trump comments the 50-year-old has made on social media, which has seen him label the president everything from a “obvious fascist and wannabe dictator” to a “Nazi clown.”White House Communications Director Steven Cheung (L) and Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino taking in the splendor of the Oval Office. / Chip Somodevilla / Getty ImagesWhen one comment on his Oval Office post said “it was an insult” to compare “this gold poop” to locker rooms, White noted, “I agree that pro wrestlers don’t deserve the comparison.”White has won 12 Grammy awards, his first being for the White Stripes classic “Seven Nation Army”, a song which Trump used without permission in a campaign video last year, prompting the musician to threaten to sue him.“Don’t even think about using my music you fascists,” White wrote in a fiery Instagram post responding to the video.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDespite Cheung claiming White’s career has “stalled”, his most recent album, last year’s No Name, was nominated at the 2025 Grammy awards for Best Rock Album.His next major gig is the CBGB Festival in Brooklyn next month, playing alongside Iggy Pop and the Sex Pistols.The media gets a taste of the Oval Office as Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. / Anna Moneymaker / Getty ImagesWhite House Communications Director Steven Cheung is seen during a US-Russia summit on Ukraine at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025. / DREW ANGERER / AFP via Getty ImagesTrump has been bringing a touch of his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort to the White House this year.Paintings have gold frames, gold cherubs have been shipped in from his resort, with gilded mirrors on the wall and gold appliqués on the fireplace, which is topped with urns.“I picked it all myself,” Trump said last month. “I’m very proud of it.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBarbara Res, once a VP at the Trump Organization, witnessed the real estate tycoon’s penchant for filling Trump Tower, Mar-a-Lago and the Plaza Hotel with gold, polished bronze and brass.“He used the word ‘class’ a lot, and it was a high-class thing for him,” Res told USA Today of his taste in decorations and fittings. “It conveyed an illusion of taste and wealth, and that’s why he wanted to gild everything.”A glimpse of all the Trumpified gold in the Oval Office. / MANDEL NGAN / AFP via Getty ImagesTrump has also replaced the lawn in the Rose Garden with paving, claiming women had complained their high heels were sinking into the grass. He is planning on hosting a UFC match on the grounds of the White House next year.

A former choir teacher at Choctaw High School has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for having a sexual relationship with a student that lasted more than a year.Samuel Taylor Melton, 30, of Moore, will be on probation for 25 more years after his release from prison. He must register as a sex offender.He pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Aug. 19, in Oklahoma County District Court to 15 sex crimes. At times, he wiped away tears with a tissue.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”He’s incredibly remorseful,” his attorney, Chris Box, told reporters afterward. “He wanted closure, not only for himself, but for the victim.”Melton’s wife, father and mother were present in the crowded courtroom for the sentencing, the defense attorney confirmed.The guilty plea was to four counts of rape by instrumentation, three counts of second-degree rape, four counts of forcible oral sodomy and four counts of sexual battery.Former high school choir teacher Samuel Taylor Melton, in orange, is escorted to court on Tuesday, Aug. 19, for sentencing in a rape case. Next to him is his defense attorney, Chris Box.He admitted in his guilty plea that the offenses began in 2023 when the victim was 16 and one of his students. He did not apologize.His punishment was the result of a plea agreement with prosecutors. Special Judge Jason Glidewell imposed the sentence after the victim told her former teacher she came forward to protect other students.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”You were the darkness that crept into the place that was meant to be safe for me,” Avery Smith, now 19, told him in a 10-minute statement. “You are a predator, and I was just one of your prey.”The Oklahoman typically does not name victims of sexual assault, but Avery wanted her name known.She came forward in April, almost a year after graduating. She at first told her parents.”So many parts of me screamed not to say a word,” she said in court Tuesday, looking directly at Melton. “But the parts of me that longed for my own justice and the protection of the girls you would’ve hurt in the future … screamed louder.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMelton kept his head down as she spoke. He tightly gripped a tissue in his hand as she said he had stolen her love of music and poisoned her dream of being a music teacher herself by holding her captive to his “sick sexual fantasies.””You took that from me,” she said.After the sentencing, she told reporters it was important to her to be an example for other victims of sex crimes. “I absolutely think that there are people out there that haven’t spoke out and I hope they come forward,” she said. “You matter. Your story deserves to be heard.”Melton confessed and resigned when school administrators confronted him in April about the accusations.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHe was charged April 28. Attorney General Gentner Drummond took over the case in July at the request of the victim. The AG told Avery in court after the sentencing that he was proud of her.In a news release, Drummond called the sentence “the longest ever for a sexual predator in our schools.”“Anyone who preys on children should be punished as harshly as possible − especially those who have been entrusted with the education and care of our children,” said Drummond, who is running for governor.Avery told police the sexual encounters began the second semester of her junior year, two months after he was reprimanded for unprofessional and inappropriate interactions with her.Samuel Melton”Do not place yourself in the position of having your statements or actions be misinterpreted as having inappropriate feelings towards students,” he was told in the reprimand signed by Principal Jackie Harris.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementShe told police the sexual encounters continued into her senior year even after his wife found out. She told police some sexual encounters took place in a practice room while class was still in session and students were practicing just outside the door.She graduated in May 2024.Lawsuit is pending in Oklahoma City federal courtAvery is suing the Choctaw-Nicoma Park School District, school officials and Melton in Oklahoma City federal court. In the lawsuit, she alleges she suffered the sexual abuse because of a series of gross failures and indifference at the district.Rape victim Avery Smith speaks to reporters on Tuesday, Aug. 19, after her former teacher was sentenced.Her lawsuit lists seven other incidents of sexual misconduct by teachers in the district.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHer attorney, Cameron Spradling of Oklahoma City, has demanded $25 million.”We have to recognize Oklahoma has a serious problem,” said Spradling, who has successfully sued other school districts.”Do we not recognize that, everybody?” he asked reporters Tuesday after the sentencing. “That we’ve got a big problem here.”The school district has not filed an answer to the lawsuit yet. In a media statement in May, the school district said, “Mr. Melton’s actions were reprehensible and antithetic to the high standards of professionalism, trust and care demonstrated every day by CNP teachers, administrators, and staff.”The age of consent for sex had been 16 at the time of their relationship but that did not apply to teachers. A new law will raise the age to 18 when it goes in effect later this year.This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Former Choctaw choir teacher Sam Melton sentenced for sex crimes