On late Tuesday morning (Wednesday AEST), Trump stepped outside from a door linked to the State Dining Room and walked onto the rooftop above the press briefing room and the west colonnade that borders the Rose Garden.

He spent nearly 20 minutes surveying the rooftop and the grounds below, including a newly paved makeover of the Rose Garden.

Later, near the end of his appearance on the roof, Trump was asked what he was going to build. He quipped, “Nuclear missiles.”

The unexpected walk on the rooftop comes as Trump looks to leave a lasting footprint on what’s often referred to as “The People’s House”.

Trump has undertaken extensive redecorations in the Oval Office, adding golden accents, cherubic decorations, presidential portraits, and other elements, as well as erecting large flagpoles on both the north and south lawns to display the American flag prominently.

Additionally, last week, it was announced by his administration that construction would begin in September on an extensive ballroom, which is set to be completed before Trump’s term concludes in early 2029.

According to the White House, while Trump was on the West Wing, the ballroom is planned to occupy the space currently held by the “small, significantly altered, and reconstructed East Wing.”

While rare, there have been times through the years where presidents ventured out onto — and even slept on — the White House roof.

In a move to support renewable energy, President Jimmy Carter had previously installed 32 solar panels on the West Wing roof during the 1970s, though these were later removed in the Reagan era.

In 1910, president William Howard Taft had a sleeping porch built on the roof to escape Washington’s hot summer nights.