Trump says fixing up White House ‘relaxes’ him

US President Donald Trump said Monday that renovating the White House helps him relax, responding to criticism of the construction projects by former President Barack Obama.

"I'm really good in real estate and fixing things. I fix things very good, very beautifully, and I always build beautiful and inexpensive," Trump told a rally in Corinth, Mississippi.

"I can do it naturally. It's a natural thing. It actually relaxes me," he said.

Obama said over the weekend that Trump's renovations made the White House look like "Saddam Hussein opened up a Cheesecake Factory."

"He said, 'This isn't a Cheesecake Factory.' Can you believe it? Which is a very successful company. He doesn't like successful companies," Trump said.

Trump said the White House was in "horrible condition" when he took over, adding: "The plaster was falling off the exterior."

He said ornamentation around several windows had "fallen off or half fallen off," adding: "We made a mold of the good one, and we put it on the other one, and we got it all beautiful."

Referring to the ballroom being built in the East Wing, Trump said: "I would have done it the first time, but I was under siege by the radical lunatics. ... So I didn't have time."

Trump also said the White House is "a symbol of America" and must be maintained properly.