The office of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said the $52,000 curtains installed in her New York office last year were bought by the Obama administration, not the Trump administration.
The New York Times wrote about the pricey window treatment on Thursday, and while it appeared to pin the blame on the Trump administration, it said in the middle of the story that the purchase was made a few years back.
A spokesperson for Haley said she had no say in the purchase of the $52,701 customized, mechanized curtains.
The apartment, which is located in a new building just blocks from the delegation offices, is leased by the government, and Haley is the first ambassador to live in it, said Patrick Kennedy, a State Department management official under Obama.
Although the selection and purchase of the curtains were made during the Obama administration, installation took place from March to August of 2017, while Haley was serving as ambassador.
[Opinion: New York Times blames Nikki Haley for Obama-era spending decision on pricey curtains]
During the installation, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had frozen hiring and proposed cutting the department’s budget by 31 percent.
“How can you, on the one hand, tell diplomats that basic needs cannot be met and, on the other hand, spend more than $50,000 on a customized curtain system for the ambassador to the U.N.?” Brett Bruen, a White House official in the Obama administration, said of his own administration’s decision.
Kennedy defended the purchase, claiming that it would be used for years and it was needed for security and entertainment.
“All she’s got is a part-time maid, and the ability to open and close the curtains quickly is important,” Kennedy said.
