Trump names Gebbia to lead National Design Studio for federal digital

President Donald Trump moved to overhaul federal digital services by naming Airbnb cofounder Joe Gebbia as the first Chief Design Officer and creating a National Design Studio within the White House to guide a broad modernization of online government interfaces. The administration described the effort, part of the broader America by Design initiative, as a three-year program to standardize design, improve usability, and reduce duplicative costs across roughly 26,000 federal web portals, with initial results expected by July 4, 2026 and a formal shutdown of the temporary studio after three years.

The executive order establishes three core components to modernize federal digital services. Gebbia will report to the White House Chief of Staff and recruit top private-sector design talent to serve in government roles. The national program aims to update government design language to be both usable and beautiful, and the National Design Studio will coordinate standardized design across agencies to curb duplicative work and align experiences for the public. Agencies will be expected to consult with Gebbia to implement initial improvements, particularly on high-impact sites and...