Writes Adam Gopnik, at the end of his New Yorker essay, "Why Trump Tore Down the East Wing/The act of destruction is precisely the point: a kind of performance piece meant to display Trump’s arbitrary power over the Presidency, including its physical seat."
Reverence for the past and reluctance to destroy until the risks of destruction are fully known — but is that your general principle? If it is, you are a committed conservative.
***
As long as we're talking about rules... the traditional rules of punctuation would reject those those commas after "the past" and "fully known." It's easy to see if you put it this way: Reverence and reluctance is not timidity. Not: Reverence, and reluctance, is not timidity. And, obviously, "is" is wrong! I suspect that at one point the sentence was "Reverence for the past — along with reluctance to destroy until the risks of destruction are fully known — is not timidity but wisdom, in architecture as in life."
Punctuation and grammar embody values; they are not merely a receptacle of them. I remember when the great tradition of The New Yorker was scrupulously tending to these matters. Is my grief an overreaction to the loss of a beloved publishing tradition?
Posts
219 comments:
1 – 200 of 219 Newer› Newest»We had an election. Trump won. You don’t get to call a new election every time he enacts his agenda. Sit down.
In his first term, all he wanted to build was a wall. He asked permission. How well did that go?
Trump is the undisputed king of distraction. With all that is going on, he's got the elite writing thousands of words about ballrooms. Ballrooms!!!. He knows his opponents can't help themselves.
’Reverence for the past, and reluctance to destroy until the risks of destruction are fully known, is not timidity but wisdom, in architecture as in life.’
That sentence would be appropriate and believable if published in ‘The Federalist’, but ‘New Yorker’?
…media and journalism destroyed itself because of the guy they’re failing to stop. Was it worth it?
Thank you for proposing this interesting and seemingly cooperative approach. Unfortunately history demonstrates that this is not in fact the way things have been done in DC and there is no evidence that Democrats would in any way support a renovation even tangentially connected to Trump so it is all pie in the sky civility bullshit IMO. I am mildly curious if they give several examples of the approach being implemented by prior residents of the White House.
"The central values of democracy are being demolished before our eyes". Jesus, the hysteria never ends with these people. It's a friggin' annex, for Christ's sake.
Leland in the first post is correct. Maybe media should not have conditioned the supporters of its political party to believe they would always be in power
"It isn’t complicated
If social media has taught me anything, it’s that people who use this phrase are idiots who don’t know what they’re talking about.
As for this specific project, I have yet to hear a complaint about transparency from anyone who has actually looked into how the planning phase was handled.
AA, you are not overreacting. A competent writer would not have written those sentences and a competent editor would have caught them.
…continuously, as others have pointed out, this space has been needed for decades. Also the East wing was always kind of underutilized crap. Back when these things were obvious Grok wasn’t born yet…
“…the grief they felt.” What stupidity! No one honestly grieves for the old East Wing. This article is a wonderful reminder that leftists and corporate media will gin up more anger and opprobrium about a needed and highly useful WH upgrade (upgrade!) than they ever expressed when cities burned and lives were lost in the evil BLM grifter riots. More anger at renovation than the Nazis and Deathwishers currently asking for votes as Democrats. More anger at a building being touched than Charlie Kirk being murdered.
The question is: Are there good people on both side of the issue?
They aborted the wall's construction, cannibalized the profitable parts, and invited millions of illegal aliens to displace Americans at subsidized costs, forcing unaffordable prices and unavailable services. One step forward, three steps backward.
This morning I wonder: does Trump love things because they are good or are things good because Trump loves them? What do you think?
"... a kind of performance piece meant to display Trump’s arbitrary power over the Presidency, including its physical seat."
These Leftist mind readers never fail to amaze. (I'm going to repeat what I posted earlier this morning om another thread)
Michael said...
Maybe the question is not why the President is doing this, but why this wasn't done years ago.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, this resonates with me. Maybe Trump is the only President who notices and truly gives a damn about the comfort of those in a lesser station than him.
And we can assume that before he was President, Trump attended state affairs in the South Lawn tents, including the port-a-potties. I'm sure that didn't sit well with him (no pun).
Remember he went to Axelrod about this before he was President, so imputing malevolent motives to him now is a stretch, to put it kindly.
What did motard Gopnik write about destroying cities in 2020 without prior approval or agreement or planning for “what comes next?”
The tents and portable water closets should be sequestered or sold as scrap. The new construction will be equitable and inclusive, with a smaller forward-looking environmental footprint, improved surfaces that will benefit the fairer sex, and climate control that will benefit both sexes equally. Not to mention security and safely in the woke of assassins choosing to relieve Republican and other "burdens".
My relative sorta under their breath was laying out the Dem East Wing talking points. Yikes. They pass this stuff along like a rash. I said I agreed it's sad the First Lady is losing her office. Better to dump on Trump because we're now bombing suspected drug runner boats. How does it get decided that a boat and crew warrant destruction? I use to walk down the road on the east side, the old Treasury building to the West. You use to be able to just zip up to top of the Treasury where you overlooked the White House grounds and I suppose the East wing. Noone's ever invited me to the White House and I bailed the morning my sister dropped me off to tour with the IP pass Senate offices handed out. I always rely on the Jackie tour from the The First Family comedy album. That said, I dont ever recall anybody waxing sentimental over the East Wing.
Wilbur repeated a good point. First Lady Jackie Kennedy was planning a new ballroom, did see the need for a better venue to host events, but was suddenly dispossessed of the opportunity when a dirty commie killed her husband.
Democrats want to treat the Annex like the Keystone XL Pipeline.
“It is a recognition of something deeper: the central values of democracy being demolished before our eyes. Now we do not only sense it. We see it.”
Yes, it’s right before our eyes, it’s hard not to see it.
So every time that the globalists send another factory full of well paying jobs over to China, was the "cruelty the point"?
Whenever I see this grammatical construction, I read it as "This is what we need you to believe is the reason in order to maintain party discipline: The X is the point!"
In his first term, all he wanted to build was a wall. He asked permission. How well did that go?
Here's another example: in 2011 Obama wanted to murder an American teenager. He did NOT ask for permission and he got to melt that little fucker to the dessert sands. If he would have asked permission some treasonous court would have said "no."
Even so, I would rather live in a country where ballrooms remain unbuilt, teenagers remain unmurdered, and Presidents follow the law.
Bud, I pity the people who have NOT laughed their asses off listening to that album. To this day I still say, in poor JFK impersonation, “I am favor of keeping the door open.”
Trump is just putting up a much-needed addition.
It’s not about the East wing or construction of a ballroom. Who really cares about a building? It’s a metaphor for the destruction of democracy.
Tell us triple D what law governs WH renovation?
Your idiocy is a metaphor for the Democrat party.
Hysterical already.
Mike, your idiocy keeps you in a cult.
"Committee it to death" is what I'm hearing.
Going broader than Gopnik, his preferred process-centric approach is a recipe for paralysis in everything. That is, already, a major drag on the US economy. It delays and increases costs in every private and public investment. The famous California train project is a perfect example.
How to break out of this process trap?
I suggest wild violence against all who impede investment.
The cool thing about Trump becoming king is that his children will start murdering each other soon. Who wins the game of thrones? Ivanka or Tiffany, I think.
Barron gets thrown out of fifth story window by Don Jr. on a coke binge. Eric is a nebbish twit. Jared Kushner's dad gets rid of him easily. The Kushners also take out Don Jr.
That leaves only Tiffany. She's my dark horse though.
All Hail Queen Tiffany!
So if not following the Gopnik Guide is a “metaphor for the destruction of democracy,” then show me the prior president who did it that way. Otherwise you’re telling me Obama’s renovation was also such a metaphor yet you stayed silent while he and Michelle destroyed democracy.
The REAL question is: What difference, at this point, does it make?
The administrative state lives for process process process. Analysis paralysis is their modus operandi. Control is the goal.
Ah the c-word uses the other c-word to describe the right. I love the smell of IMAX level projection in the morning!
The people opposing the structural improvements are misogynistic at best, transhumane at worst, and decidedly against environmental conservation. The cost has been rationally assessed, the price reasonably contracted, but there will be no judgmental consensus (pun intended) on value.
If Gopnik is arguing the United States ought not have so grand a ballroom attached to the White House that's fine but it's just plain stupid to argue that the East Wing is somehow sacred and must remain until every stakeholder has been served with notice and has had the opportunity to be heard.
I think Gopnik is a very good writer but he works for money same as the rest of us. Maybe in his spare time he's updating "Ozymandias."
P.S. Does a period ending a sentence go inside or outside the closing double quotation mark identifying the title of a poem? The internet didn't give me an answer good enough, quick enough, so I decided to wing it. Can't spend all day on these things you know.
My God. I've never seen anything like the mindset of the left in America today. They live in an intellectual tunnel. They literally just got done covering for a vegetable in the White House for four years. They spent those years telling the world that Joe Biden was the best Biden he has ever been as we watched him dribble himself every time he tried to speak, or stumbled over the next step.
They can no longer figure out what or where the actual stories are. They cannot be trusted to offer up any important, objective reporting. They are there simply to strengthen the bubble they live in. For themselves. And for the rest of the leftists...sitting at home right now, wringing their hands over a banquet hall.
I guarantee you this will happen at some point when there is another Democratic President. Perhaps in 12 more years. That Democratic President will have the ballroom redesigned. It will get pages of coverage by the style team at the NYT. It will be lauded as a 'return to class'. They will host a massive event in the ballroom. And everyone will be just swooning over the star-studded event.
Mark my words. This will happen.
It is not a "central value of democracy" but a central value of bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is both a necessity and a curse, in that it flourishes independently of utility. As societies age their bureaucracies become a sort of atherosclerosis, a fatal disease of age.
What to do about it? There is no solution that does not involve violence and rage.
Inga said…
““It is a recognition of something deeper: the central values of democracy being demolished before our eyes. Now we do not only sense it. We see it.”
Yes, it’s right before our eyes, it’s hard not to see it.”
Did you see this destruction of democracy when historic statues were being torn down indiscriminately, when millions of migrants from undemocratic and less civil cultures were encouraged to come across our borders, or when an un-primaried nominee was selected by committee to run for president in 2024? Just trying to understand…
And, how is a building renovation affecting a “central value of our democracy” exactly? It’s an improvement project, not a demolition.
’It’s a metaphor for the destruction of democracy.’
Try looking at it this way: your cherished East Wing Christmas ornament is now a collector’s item!!
Beasts of England said...
’Reverence for the past, and reluctance to destroy until the risks of destruction are fully known, is not timidity but wisdom, in architecture as in life.’
That sentence would be appropriate and believable if published in ‘The Federalist’, but ‘New Yorker’?
Yeah, the Leftists see the Constitution as a “living document” to be folded, spindled, and mutilated as needed to get their way, but Trump modifying the White House is a threat to democracy. It’s hard to believe they’re really that stupid, but they truly are.
PS- Trump, in the meantime, is off again, running through the entirety of Asia. He's making deals. Creating paths for growth for the US. Strengthening our positions as much as possible.
Back home, the Democrats are supporting their rioters in the streets of our cities, refusing to operate the Congress, and loudly complaining about a new ballroom at the White House.
Why do we actually have Democrats?
“Otherwise you’re telling me Obama’s renovation was also such a metaphor yet you stayed silent while he and Michelle destroyed democracy.”
The renovations under Obama did take place. Both CNN and Bloomberg News reported in 2010 about a four-year, $376 million White House renovation project beginning during his presidency.
However, many social media posts omitted key context: Congress approved the funding in 2008 following a report by the administration of then-President George W. Bush, and the renovations aimed to upgrade the building's aging infrastructure, according to the news reports.
It's misleading to suggest Obama personally "spent" $370 million on White House renovations, as some posts claimed, as Congress approved the project's funding during Bush's time in office.
https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/10/23/obama-white-house-renovation/
I hope they don't junk those port-a-potties. They're an important part of our past. I think put up for auction they would bring in some real money. Who wouldn't want to take a crap in a place where Michelle or maybe even Jackie or Eleanor has squatted before. It would make an ideal gift for someone who has everything. I bet many of the ex-wives of tech billionaires would pay a pretty penny for these facilities so redolent of our past.
This is what Democrats fail to realize why Trump is popular and successful. He telling the Kafkaesque regulatory Mandarins to GFT.
Here's what I see:
“It is a recognition of something deeper: the central values of bureaucracy being demolished before our eyes. Now we do not only sense it. We see it.”
’It’s hard to believe they’re really that stupid, but they truly are.’
The triumph of feelings over reason.
One cannot repair bureacratic sclerosis through process-centric (bureaucratic) means. That just creates more bureaucracy.
The end of every Chinese dynasty, choked to inutility by bureaucracy, involved a barbarian invasion or a peasant uprising or a military takeover, and a massacre of the state apparatus.
During the Obama administration, improvements to the White House complex included major structural upgrades and aesthetic changes to modernize the property and grounds.
Structural and infrastructure modernization
A significant multi-year, congressionally approved renovation project took place from 2010 to 2014, with a total cost of around $376 million. This overhaul focused on critical but less visible infrastructure:
Upgraded utility systems: The West and East Wings received upgrades to their aging heating, cooling, electrical, and plumbing systems.
Security improvements: The project also included the modernization of fire-alarm and security infrastructure.
Proper oversight: In contrast to other presidential renovations, the Obama-era project was overseen by the U.S. General Services Administration and followed proper channels, including review by the National Capital Planning Commission.
Aesthetic and grounds enhancements
First Lady Michelle Obama oversaw several distinct updates to the White House grounds and interior:
White House Kitchen Garden: In 2009, a vegetable garden was established on the South Lawn, promoting healthier eating and sparking a national conversation about nutrition. It was the first White House kitchen garden since Eleanor Roosevelt's "Victory Garden" during World War II.
State Dining Room refurbishment: A three-year refurbishment of the State Dining Room was completed in 2015. It included a custom rug, new window treatments, and modern mahogany chairs inspired by a historic design.
White House art collection: Michelle Obama added new artwork to the White House collection, notably securing Alma Thomas's painting Resurrection—the first work by an African-American woman to be included.
Tennis and basketball court: An existing tennis court was resurfaced to allow for both tennis and basketball. As an avid basketball player, President Obama and his staff frequently used the space.
A building, a tent, a water closet is not a human life that evolves from conception. To abort or conserve is the question.
One could see the renovation project as fortifying a central value by its intended purpose: to create a bigger permanent space to gather and discuss domestic and foreign policy issues or to celebrate our country and its people. One could choose to see it that way.
The long unanswered question is what did we get for the Obamas spending a similar amount on a similar project? It turns out the Cult of Black Jesus prevents any leftists from answering that question. While normal conservative Americans appreciate capital improvements that raise America’s esteem on the world stage and know that 80-year-old structures often need upgrades, leftist cult members must deny that any act Trump takes can have any beneficial impact. Every conservative here (LLR excluded) has noted positive effects of Democrat presidents even if we view them as mostly wrong.
It is not and cannot be reciprocated. The Left hates Trump. That is their only animating impulse.
"Tell us triple D what law governs WH renovation?"
WHITE HOUSE RENOVATION – FEDERAL LAWS & TIMELINES
1) Who’s in charge
The White House is federal property managed mainly by the National Park Service (NPS) and the General Services Administration (GSA). Any renovation using federal approval, funding, or permitting is a “federal undertaking,” triggering environmental and historic-preservation laws.
2) Procurement & construction rules
FAR Parts 5, 6, and 36 control public notice and competition. The Brooks Act (40 U.S.C. §§ 1101-1104; FAR 36.6) governs architect-engineer selection. The Miller Act (40 U.S.C. §§ 3131-34; FAR 28.102) requires performance and payment bonds on projects >$150 k. The Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. §§ 3141-48; FAR 22.4) mandates prevailing wages. The Copeland Act (40 U.S.C. § 3145; 29 C.F.R. Part 3) bars payroll kickbacks. Buy American rules appear in FAR Part 25. Anti-kickback and integrity provisions: 41 U.S.C. ch. 87; FAR 3.502 & 52.203-7; 41 U.S.C. §§ 2101-07; 18 U.S.C. § 201. Safety: OSHA 29 C.F.R. Part 1926. Accessibility: Architectural Barriers Act 42 U.S.C. §§ 4151-57; 41 C.F.R. Part 102-76 Subpart C.
Typical public-notice window: FAR 5.203 requires 15 days minimum before solicitation and about 30 days for offers, so plan 45-60 days total.
3) Environmental & historic reviews
Under NEPA (40 C.F.R. Parts 1500-1508) a Draft EIS must have a 45-day comment period and 30-day wait after the Final EIS. NHPA §106 (36 C.F.R. Part 800) requires consultation with the State Historic Preservation Officer and public, often 2-6 months. Other rules: Asbestos NESHAP 40 C.F.R. Part 61 Subpart M; Stormwater NPDES 33 U.S.C. § 1342; 40 C.F.R. § 122.26. Typical total timeline: Categorical Exclusion 2-8 weeks; EA/FONSI 3-6 months; EIS 12-24 months.
4) Transparency & records
The Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. § 552) applies to agencies such as NPS and GSA, but not to the President’s immediate staff (Kissinger v. Reporters Committee, 445 U.S. 136 (1980)). If outside advisory committees are formed, the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) may require open meetings and public records.
5) Time to build in
Procurement notice + response ≈ 45-60 days (FAR 5.203). NHPA §106 ≈ 60-180 days. NEPA EA ≈ 3-6 months; EIS 45-day comment + 30-day wait minimum.
6) If corporate sponsors fund it (no tax money)
If a federal agency accepts the donation and lets the contracts, the FAR, Davis-Bacon, and related rules still apply because the funds enter a federal account.
If a private nonprofit pays contractors and later donates the completed work, those procurement rules generally do not apply, but environmental and historic reviews still do. Ethics laws (5 C.F.R. Part 2635; 18 U.S.C. § 201) still govern how donations are accepted or managed.
7) Transparency for corporate money
Agency records remain subject to FOIA. Private nonprofits must file IRS Form 990 under 26 U.S.C. § 6104. If the agency creates an outside advisory body, FACA applies.
8) Bottom line
Procurement packages need about 45-60 days for notice and response. Environmental/historic reviews typically add 2-6 months (EA) to 12-24 months (EIS). NEPA requires a 45-day comment and 30-day wait minimum.
are there plans for septic tank or leach field?
does Constitution allow comingling waste water from the three branches?
“ Why do we actually have Democrats?”
It’s a curse.
And I thought Minneapolis burning down was a sign of destruction of civilization! Little did I know some minor home improvement would ackshully usher in the end of the Republic.
Inga said... It’s not about the East wing or construction of a ballroom. Who really cares about a building? It’s a metaphor for the destruction of democracy.
It's a metaphor disguised as hating all things Trump, just because.
Too much DDD.
1. Is Trump following the law or not?
2. Has every past renovation followed the list you provided?
3. If not what are the exceptions?
“Why do we actually have Democrats?”
“It’s a curse.”
An autocracy would be a lot less confusing to the Trump cult.
WILBUR...Axelrod was all about deconstruction with his boss, Obama. Trump, to them, was just a yahoo builder and good for a donation.
Gopnik just gets stupider every day
It's a metaphor for making America great again.
Can a metaphor be literal?
In American English, periods are placed inside quotation marks, while in British English, they are placed outside unless the quoted material is a complete sentence.
Of course Driver somehow omits the (minimum) 4 years of lawsuits over the Enviro/Historic preservation laws. This is why the Federal Government can't build anything. But that's Progress!
Leftism in a nutshell: Money spent during the Obama administration is not money spent by Obama personally.
Got it. Trump really could have used such hairsplitting analysis when he was charged with 34 felonies for paying his lawyer.
Of course the trillion dollars that left no sign they were ever soent well thats sop
The new yawker is incapable of perceiving reality (see danchenko steele subterfuge)
“The act of destruction is precisely the point: a kind of performance piece meant to display Trump’s arbitrary power over the Presidency, including its physical seat. He asks permission of no one, destroys what he wants, when he wants. As many have noted, one of Trump’s earliest public acts, having promised the Metropolitan Museum of Art the beautiful limestone reliefs from the façade of the old Bonwit Teller building, was to jackhammer them to dust in a fit of impatience.”
Maybe the grief is over the metaphor of the destruction of the Democrats' hegemony.
Building the ballroom is a metaphor for the destruction of democracy?
To paraphrase Senator Kennedy, people like Igna are the reason there are directions on shampoo bottles.
And on hair dryer power cords
“Trump apologists say that earlier Presidents altered the White House, too. Didn’t Jimmy Carter install solar panels? Didn’t George H. W. Bush build a horseshoe pit? Didn’t Barack Obama put in a basketball court? What’s the fuss?
This, of course, is the standard line of Trump apologetics: some obvious outrage is identified, and defenders immediately scour history for an earlier, vaguely similar act by a President who actually respected the Constitution. It’s a form of mismatched matching. If Trump blows up boats with unknown men aboard—well, didn’t Obama use drones against alleged terrorists? (Yes, but within a process designed, however imperfectly, to preserve a chain of command and a vestige of due process.)“
The public and private bureaucratic inertia is what favors Obamacare in lieu of reform, immigration reform in lieu of emigration reform, Green blight, price, and unreliability in lieu of hydrocarbon and nuclear development, etc.
All the planning, debating, discussing would make the project…..well, Palisades in California. It would never get done.
“Porta-Potties now!”
“Porta-Potties forever!”
“Unless you do an EIR and submit to a 4-year review you may not touch the People’s House!”
Democrats stand in the breach, blocking the indoor plumbing that the People need.
“Porta-Potties now! “Porta-Potties FOREVER!”
“The jabs and insults of earlier Presidents, though, however rough, stayed within the bounds of democratic discourse, the basic rule being that the other side also gets to make its case.
So it was with the White House. Earlier alterations were made incrementally, and only after much deliberation.”
“Minor home improvement”. Mike, if you’re ok with what he did, why the gaslighting?
Trump brags “I’m good at building.”
Obama bragged “I’m getting pretty good at killing!”
Choose your man.
"Wilbur said...
AA, you are not overreacting. A competent writer would not have written those sentences and a competent editor would have caught them."
And a competent thinker wouldn't have had those thoughts. Did it ever occur to Adam that there's a reason the White House and Supreme court are exempt from the planning regulations?
“If the White House must be remade, let there be a plan; let it be debated; let the financing be transparent and free of kickbacks and corruption. It isn’t complicated, and it’s the very principle at the heart of the American Revolution: following rules is not weakness. It is the breaking of them that is the indulgence of insecure tyrants, who feel most alive in acts of real and symbolic violence.”
It is a minor home improvement within historical context DDD. And to put a finer point on it the improvements are to an outbuilding not the actual home, which has had truly extensive changes made over the years.
Why are the arguments here so ahistorical?
“Trump brags “I’m good at building.”
Obama bragged “I’m getting pretty good at killing!”
Choose your man.”
“I don’t think we’re necessarily going to ask for a declaration of war. I think we’re just gonna kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. We’re going to kill them. They’re going to be, like, dead,” Trump said
DDD , there are still three questions you are avoiding.
Because they dont make sense otherwise
And yet in the two years after that statement they didnt hit a single target in syria or north africa
"It’s not about the East wing or construction of a ballroom. Who really cares about a building? It’s a metaphor for the destruction of democracy."
The duly elected President made a decision and took action with respect to the workings of the executive branch. Seems like democracy to me. You just don't like who won. He was pretty clear about his vision and the people liked it.
Just tells you the carp that heilperin and heileman were willing to swallow
Yes that quote from Trump is what reminded me of Obama’s shocking statement after one of his unilateral drone strikes on an American citizen. I don’t see those two events similarly.
Trump has talked about this need for a ballroom for decades.
I guess I mixed DDD and Jimbo# in responding to their silly objections to this minor home improvement.
DDD refused to explain what he called socialism two days ago. Now he is here writing more stupid things.
1) Who’s in charge
The White House is federal property managed mainly by the National Park Service (NPS) and the General Services Administration (GSA). Any renovation using federal approval, funding, or permitting is a “federal undertaking,” triggering environmental and historic-preservation laws.
Well for starters, the NPS and GSA work for the President. Second, federal approval is the President. Third, this isn't "federal" funding but private donations. Finally, permit "triggering environmental" has absolutely nothing to do with NPS or GSA. Also, do you have some information that the construction does not meet environmental regulation? Are you pushing socialist regulations again to prevent things from happening and pretending it isn't socialism?
Is there ANYTHING these Democrats won’t lose their mud about!?!?
It may be a long wait…
After they turn blue, whats next
"The beautiful limestone reliefs from the façade of the old Bonwit Teller building"
Were they beautiful?
Trump, 10 years after the destruction, said: "Who cares? Let’s say that I had given that junk to the Met. They would have just put them in their basement. I’ll never have the goodwill of the Establishment, the tastemakers of New York. Do you think, if I failed, these guys in New York would be unhappy? They would be thrilled! Because they have never tried anything on the scale that I am trying things in this city. I don’t care about their goodwill."
Ever since brian the dog stopped writing for them
...The opposition quote Rules to suit their purposes...
Somebody quoted 'Rules' in the first term and stopped the construction of a Border Wall, then facilitated the illegal immigration of millions from a selection of worldwide sh*tholes, and granted them exempted and special status, quoting more 'Rules'. Now we have non-English speaking illegals with CDLs killing Americans on the road.
So before we get to invoking 'Rules', perhaps we can review the 'Rules' governing the riots of 2020, which supplanted the 'Rules' governing forced sequestration of the American population while they were jabbed with an experimental, unproven drug, lest they lose their job, because 'Rules'.
No, thanks, I voted for something different, and the things I voted for won the election. Elections have consequences, there's another 'Rule'.
“He was pretty clear about his vision and the people liked it.”
To millions of Americans Trump’s presidency is daily veering away from democracy, resembling an autocracy.
Contributions for future undefined good grace is the American tradition. You'd shut down Washington otherwise.
Frank Lloyd Wright would read that and say what a pile of garbage, I am the architect and I will do what I want client and the laws of physics be damned.
So all of the left’s echo chamber is focused on this instead of the shutdown, which tells you how the shutdown is going for Democrats.
The vapors and hair on fire get old pretty quickly
I think the big complaint is that the new ballroom is too big and the White House will no longer be the focal point.
Yes cities on fire and the usual suspects said ho hum a python sketch gone awry and it was 'insurrection'
Doing everything by plan and debate is letting women decide.
The New Yorker has gone 100% silly. Can't nobody think anymore?
Thats why i went with family guy reference
The White House has an executive and residential space, and will have an event space to fulfill its dignitary role in domestic and foreign affairs. This is an NP complete solution.
Maybe it would help if the left viewed this as a transition, like boys becoming girls. The East Wing merely transitioned from an an old office annex (boy) to a shiny new office complex with a ballroom on top (girl). Progress!!
Just one word-statues.
“This morning I wonder: does Trump love things because they are good or are things good because Trump loves them? What do you think?”
I think you should sit your sorry ass on a porcelain throne and clear your mind, DeeDee.
No they are beyond help
If ObamaCare must be shoved down our throats - reveal the crony corruption .
Oh yeah - they never did.
...To millions of Americans Trump’s presidency is daily veering away from democracy, resembling an autocracy. ...
You mean 'veering away' like voting down a clean Continuing Resolution' so that government can re-open again Inga, that kind of autocracy?
Temujin said...
"..Back home, the Democrats are supporting their rioters in the streets of our cities, refusing to operate the Congress, and loudly complaining about a new ballroom at the White House.
Why do we actually have Democrats?"
Indeed - also
Pritzker is refusing to clean up crime in his own deadly city. and he is allowing criminals to harm ICE agents. Insurrection behavior. by a governor.
Inag gets her talking points from creepy vile MSNBC.
The East Wing is a metaphor for Democracy. Democracy is a metaphor for The Right Side of History. What's a meta for, if not to supply Democrat talking points?
Democracy! to hivemind loyalists = Dems are allowed 100% immunity from their criminal behavior.
I mean its douglas adams absurdity at this point
Democrats in power are criminals who support crime.
Veering away from Democracy. Democracy is itself a form of tyranny.
Democrats are done veering - they are established crooks and liars - who only care about their own power and stuffing their own pockets.
Dems don't give a flying fuck about Americans.
Adam Nitpik - Just creating a story to cover for his side's hysteria.
"If ObamaCare must be shoved down our throats - reveal the crony corruption .
Oh yeah - they never did."
Honest question: do you think the solution to corruption is equal and opposite corruption in a fighting fire with fire kind if way? 😬🤦🏼♂️
All sorts of presidents have spent tax payer money making changes to Government buildings. Obama spent 367 million on his vanity projects - at tax payer expense.
Trump is using his own money and donations.
Stop bitching and say thank you.
“Why do the Yanks have a No Kings Day when they’ve not had a king for centuries? It’s like the French protesting against soap.”
—— The Englishman
DD - You define anything Trump does as corruption. and?
So embarrassing...What a putz.
Because of the outcry, I wanted to see what the East Wing looked like prior to being torn down. Very few pictures are available - there are plenty of the connecting colonnade, usually a photo of someone in or near the colonnade. One of the few pictures I could find is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Wing#/media/File:207._East_Wing;_View_of_East_Elevation.jpg
Putin made Trump tear down the East Wing. Those pee tapes really come in handy at times.
"n.n : "...This is an NP complete solution." I thought there was to be no math in this thread!
The “is” is wrong only if you take out the two commas. Parentheticals can also be set off by commas or dashes.
Peachy, detail this $370 million dollar Obama boondoggle you claim.
Be sure to detail when that plan got approved by Congress.
They lie about everything
Howard 7:40 - well done.
DDD refused to explain what he called socialism two days ago. Now he is here writing more stupid things.
Oh sorry. Didn't see the question. The US Government owning a stake in Intel is socialism IMO. Or, at least a major step towards socialism that AOC and her ilk will exploit when they get back in power. Expected the Marxist left to use the Trump playbook to acquire board seats in every American corporation. We are cooked and that is thanks to Trump.
Also, those bodies "work for Trump," but they still have to follow the law. The FBI works for the president, too. It doesn't mean the FBI can break the law. Derp.
"let there be a plan"
Of course there's a plan. You can't build anything with out a plan, and these are the best plans, the best plans ever. There have never been better plans, everybody knows I make the best plans. Everybody wants their plans to be so great, the greatest ever but nobody has greater plans then these plans. Most beautiful building ever, there's never been a more beautiful building and I know beautiful buildings. Look at all the beautiful building I've built. Beautiful.
1. Is Trump following the law or not?
2. Has every past renovation followed the list you provided?
3. If not what are the exceptions?
1. I don't see how given the timelines involved but it's not my job to analyze the issues.
2. There were different laws that would have applied each year, dumdum, but historically Presidents have followed the law.
3. Derp.
An investment due to the chips act subsidy is not nationalization stop being a moron now taking over auto conpanies in 2009 that was definitely
architecture embodies values ... democratic spirit ...
As so well exemplified by the FBI HQ building.
Does anyone feel strongly that (a) an East Wing renovation to include a much larger state ballroom wasn't a worthwhile project at all; or (b) the architectural design Trump has selected is horrible? I'd say at least 95% of the criticism is about "process," IOW, the fact that it's TRUMP who's doing this rather than a bunch of commissions and bureaucrats who'd turn it into a fifteen-year boondoggle.
Wow, Inga's on fire this morning. You'd think someone had shot her husband in the neck or something instead of just replacing a building accurately identified for its lack of historical or architectural significance as an "annex".
Architectural design by committee — actually multiple committees? Yeah, like that would work.
Mark - why? the money is spent. It was OUR money.
This time - NOT our money. I am delighted.
Democrats in power abuse the American tax payer on a daily basis.
The Democrat way is to spend billions on studies... give it BS lip service and glossy promises - then never finish the project as they bleed the tax payer coffers dry.
The renderings show a space more like St Petersburg than Washington. A 90,000 sq ft extension to a 55,000 sq ft residence.Which is almost twice the size of the entire existing White House.
The architect James McCune's design shows some restraint compared with Trump's usual chrysophilia. The problem lies in the interior. The renderings depict a space more reminiscent of St. Petersburg than Washington, with huge chandeliers, arches, and orangery windows.
As always, architecture provides a pretty perfect metaphor. Only the insecure desire scale to massage their delicate egos.
DD, I am a retired Supervisory Contracting Officer and was an Acting Acquisition Director of a Region in a Civilian Agency, but started in contracting in the DoD. It is easy to pull quotes, Regulations and Policy out of the FAR, but unless you lived it, shut up. Construction projects of that size require a pre solicitation notice, not just a solicitation. All permitting must be accounted for before construction can begin. Etc... Under traditional contracting, it would be up to a year before you can even break ground for that type of project, after funding has been accomplished. I am on a DOD Contracting FB group and the folks there are freaking out because the process hasn't been followed and they rightfully fear AI is going to destroy many jobs in that field. (AI is not the answer to the acquisition process, but it going to be part of the 'solution'.) SO GOOD FOR TRUMP. Inga pointed out the funds for the renovations under O'Bama were appropriated during the Bush administration. How many years did it take before they could even start?
Authoritarian Soviet democrats skirt the law - abuse the law, lie, Burisma Joe the Law... while they accuse everyone who dare go against the holy and corrupt democratic party of Illegal behavior.
Soviet.
Trump commands our bureaucracy as Architect in Chief.
11 posts on the WH remodel since Oct 20.
Grok counts 15 for 2025. (I think that’s an undercount.)
Why so many?
“She’s curating a micro-drama where law, history, design, and politics collide.”
some fascist dictator tore down the tennis courts, to put in some "basketball courts" or such.
Are the democratic people of America going to put up with THAT?
Let's track down that dictator and DEAL with him!!
i've also heard, that That Same Dictator is in Virginia.. RIGHT NOW!
and what is that dictator doing?
the dictator is ORDERING people to vote Against a Black Woman!!
And here's the thing: if the regulations are too burdensome the solution has always been to change the regulations and not to break the law.
Conservatives have always believed that up until Trump. The left was the party of loopholes and parliamentary tricks.
It's doers vs talkers. The talkers are the reason there's no such thing as shovel ready.
FBI building ... Which undoubtedly went through all the approval rigamarole (ohh, I've never written that word before!) so beloved by government.
How's rebuilding Palisades and Altadena going, I wonder?
’The renderings depict a space more reminiscent of St. Petersburg then Washington, with huge chandeliers, arches, and orangery windows.’
The interior of the proposed ballroom is barely more ornate than DC’s Union Station, and has less gold embellishment.
It really has to be this size otherwise it would not accommodate that beautiful, extra-long table that Putin has donated.
And here's the thing: if the regulations are too burdensome the solution has always been to change the regulations and not to break the law.
Conservatives have always believed that up until Trump.
Except you were asked outright what laws were being broken. You dodged the question and refused to answer. Yet you still claim laws are being broken.
What you are doing is called libel, and it too is against the law, yet here you are breaking the law. If you are going to accuse someone of violating laws, then state the law. Otherwise quite lying about them.
"If the White House must be remade, let there be a plan; let it be debated; let the financing be transparent and free of kickbacks and corruption."
You mean like how the Democrats did with immigration?
Snark aside the answers from triple D show that there is no standard approved process governing Trump's actions that has been used by previous presidents. This is smaller in scope than earlier projects and may or may not be smaller in total cost. I continue to emphasize that these capital improvements will be nicer, more visible and far more useful day to day in future administrations than almost anything else in WH history.
Too many people demanding respect for the wrong side of history here!
Slippery slope reveal:
In the beginning of Trump’s 2nd term, Trump got rid of a 200-year-old tree known as the “Jackson Magnolia” from the White House South Lawn. And you said nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now he’s tearing down the White House.
How long will it be before he comes to remodel your house???????
To a mentally deranged minority of Americans Trump’s presidency is daily veering away from democracy, resembling an autocracy.
@Inga (8:22), FIFY
The sudden Progressive reverence for norms would be touching if it weren't so hilarious.
The collective corruption-supporting Burisma Joe Soviet left:
"laws are being Broken."
Again - The Soviet left would love to place everyone who dare disagree with them - in a gulag.
How long will it be before he comes to remodel your house???????
Winner.
Trump sees a bright future where America is a greater nation than ever, a leader of the world, a shining example, a country that absolutely will need a grand venue for huge celebrations of her vast friendships and alliances. He works toward that vision with his heart and soul.
The left does not want that, works against that, has convinced many Americans that their country is a force for evil that the arc of history will inevitably bring to a quick end and it will soon be replaced by a global utopia, the details of which are vague. That is what they work towards.
That is why the building of teh ballroom is so offensive to them. It symbolizes the failure of their dreams and ambitions.
In my town, newish arrivals tend to do remodel work, sometimes quite extensive, without bothering the city about all that planning stuff. And use illegal labor, but that's understandable; there's hardly any legal labor left in the state.
I feel like a chump for spending real money following the legal process. Just like that year I filed 19 tax returns because I had a legally employed nanny.
Trump proves daily that he can do the impossible. He made progressives fight to conserve the past. If he put up a rainbow flag, you'd never see one again.
Aftef you tried to send him to jail for life all rules are off
Kak: "The problem lies in the interior."
Okay, but future presidents can easily change the interior look if they think it's too ornate or whatever. That's actually one advantage this will have over tents.
Dd driver gives an impressive set of rules to be followed.
How do we know that the ballroom was not planned, designed and built in strict accordance with all of them?
Has anyone asked the white house?
Trump has followed the law pretty well in everthing else. Why would anyone think he hasn't complied with all the laws here?
Do you know of any he has NOT complied with DD?
John Henry
The ballroom project is a physical manifestation of Make America Great Again.
The left has its own MAGA acronym, Make America Go Away.
Corruption?? The $$ is donated money.. IT IS FREE TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC. YES THE BALLROOM IS FREE... I have no doubt the ballroom will be very impressive... Trump don't build junk.
The left is now just pure comedy 24/7. Nothing they say is sensible, honest, or even believed by them as they are saying it.
I think they have somehow developed a mental tick where they cannot tell the truth, even if they want to.
The comparison of Trump’s ballroom design to Obama’s Library design couldn’t be more enlightening regarding the perspectives of the right and the left.
’Has anyone asked the white house?’
No need to ask. If he did something improper, against code, or illegal then it would have been breathlessly reported by now.
@ Fred Drinkwater
Thought experiment:
If a hammer falls in the forest and no one from the Building Dept can hear it, did you really need a permit?
Leland 9:31
THAT.
Breezy, first step is admitting, as Obama did, that what he is building is NOT a library. They even put out an explainer so Vox readers can understand it is not a library and will not archive his papers.
“Reverence for the past, and reluctance to destroy until the risks of destruction are fully known, is not timidity, but wisdom, in architecture as in life.”
Now do Monument Avenue in Richmond, VA
@ FunkyPhD
Ha! Exactly. Great point.
Bagoh -
I beg Trump to put up a rainbow flag! Please!
(those annoying leftist virtue signaling things are obnoxious lectures at this point.)
Has Sheldon Whitehouse voiced an opinion about changes to The White House?
National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966 (codified at 54 U.S.C. § 300101 et seq.)—there is a specific exemption for the White House, the Supreme Court building, and the U.S. Capitol (including their grounds and related buildings). This exemption applies to the Act's Section 106 review process (54 U.S.C. § 306108), which requires federal agencies to assess and mitigate potential adverse effects of construction, alteration, or demolition on historic properties before proceeding. These three structures are explicitly carved out to allow the executive, judicial, and legislative branches greater autonomy in managing their facilities.
Legal Basis: 54 U.S.C. § 307104 states: "Nothing in this division applies to the White House and its grounds, the Supreme Court building and its grounds, or the United States Capitol and its related buildings and grounds." This makes the NHPA's preservation requirements inapplicable to these sites, bypassing mandatory consultations with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, State Historic Preservation Officers, and public input.
Scope: The exemption covers construction, renovations, demolitions, and maintenance that could impact historic features. For example, recent White House East Wing demolition for a ballroom addition (October 2025) proceeded without Section 106 review, though voluntary submissions to bodies like the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) were made for transparency.
Rationale: Enacted amid post-WWII development concerns, the NHPA aimed to protect cultural landmarks, but these exemptions recognize the unique symbolic and operational needs of the three branches of government. Presidents and agencies often follow preservation best practices voluntarily (e.g., via the Secretary of the Interior's Standards) to maintain public trust.
It's such a blessing this Sunday morning to not only see the beauty of Althouse's sunrise images but also the eloquent homage of so many leftists for "Reverence for the past, and reluctance to destroy"...and even..."recognition of something deeper: the central values of democracy."
One might then assume from all such expressions that they would have reverence for such things as the definition of a man and a woman as well as the Judeo-Christian principles that founded this country. Perhaps not be so supportive of the destruction of large sections of Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis and other cities.
And as for recognition of THE most central value of our democracy, namely the election of our President, perhaps stop trying to obstruct every single thing he does and stop trying to kill those who voted for and continue to support him.
I don't understand the phrase 'arbitrary power over the presidency.' Trump, like him or not, is the elected president. Nothing about his 'power over the presidency' is arbitrary. He is the president. I know the Left doesn't like that. I didn't like Biden and Obama being president. Still, there was nothing arbitrary about Obama exercising the power of the presidency. He was the president. (With a pen and a phone, no less!)
Dems seem perfectly okay -- nay, enthusiastic! -- about the Imperial Presidency when their guy is the top dog. FDR's four terms? Threatening to pack the court? Overturning virtually every norm of a constitutional republic in a failed attempt to end the Depression? No problem. Truman incinerating two cities without so much as a by-your-leave from Congress? No problem. (The right call in my judgement, but if a Republican had done it . . .)
Then there was the Blessed Reign of Kennedy. Kings are okay if they appear to be young and handsome, and are Democrats, you see. And the Brother of the King was to succeed him. And his other brother was to be next. Then doubtless some kids or grandkids. No problem.
Clinton, of course, had the right to demand anything he wanted from the wenches of the realm, since they could count on him to keep abortion available. No problem. And his wife, the queen, could easily slip into her rightful place as a Senator from a state where she had never lived. No problem.
Obama, being far above any king, need not be discussed at any length. You don't question the actions of a Lightbringer. Even if the Lightbringer is really a Chicago dirty politics grifter who ought to have risen no higher than the faculty lounge BS artist.
Anyone who is really serious about 'no kings' should be advocating for the entire White House to be torn down and replaced with a public park. They should also be screaming for an end to the Imperial Presidency regardless of which party holds the throne. Spoiler: they won't.
Mike (MJB Wolf), I’ve heard it referred to as “The Museum”, too. Regardless, does the Obama thing look inviting to the general population?
’…though voluntary submissions to bodies like the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) were made for transparency.’
Worst authoritarian ever.
Just to show equanimity for our leftist friends' reverent concerns, I hereby suggest that there be a permanent injunction against any future changes to the Obama Death Star/National Mosque quasi-library.
’…does the Obama thing look inviting to the general population?’
It’s not supposed to. Brutalist architecture is about projecting raw power, while rejecting all the natural beauty of the divine ratio.
Regarding punctuation for, " Reverence for the past, and reluctance to destroy until the risks of destruction are fully known, is not timidity but wisdom."
I wonder if that comma after reverence for the past was an Oxford comma. Maybe the writer originally had reverence, X, and reluctance as part of a list but figured whatever X was, was unnecessary. It is hard for me to come up with a third solid reason why the construction is bad, and the other two listed aren't terribly strong to begin with. Maybe the write just wanted a list with 3 items because it feels like better pacing.
We had a small weather system come through yesterday with some clouds and humidity, and you know what those damned leftists did? They put up freaking rainbow flag in the sky. It was huge. I don't how they did it. Must have used planes and smoke somehow, but there it was in the clouds over the whole area. It lasted maybe 10 minutes, and I'm still pissed off.
"If the White House must be remade, let there be a plan...
"A plan", says the left? So tell us- how is that "remaking" going in Lahaina and Pacific Palisades?
Congress sets aside a fund for White House renovations that presidents can draw on as they see fit. The swimming pool, the press room, the bowling alley, the tennis and basketball courts apparently weren't debated in Congress and approved by it. If TR or FDR could have made their major changes with private funding, they probably would have.
The intellectual "New Conservatives" of the Fifties had a debate about the meaning of "conservatism." Those who thought that the New Deal was something to be conserved and added onto lost the debate. That was inevitable because they offered little opposition to liberals. In the long run, those liberal conservatives were right in a way. In real terms, Big Government was the new status quo. If you thought it was too big or had gone wrong, you had to be a reformer and act boldly, not a timid conservative talking about reverence for tradition. You also had to reject the sterile binary of passively accepting the status quo or wanting to turn back the clock to the conditions of some earlier era.
Adam Gopnik was writing slop before there was AI. He would prefer the more authoritarian system of Canada where he grew up, but "No Kings" is the theme of the day, so he goes with that.
Such short memories! didn't we go through this same charade when Nancy Reagan got the White Hose China replaced WITHOUT TAXPAYER FUNDING?
kak wanted to study Psychology but his test responses indicated he had much more potential as a patient.
"To millions of Americans Trump’s presidency is daily veering away from democracy, resembling an autocracy."
Yeah. The millions of butthurt Americans whose party couldn't gin up enough cemetery votes to overturn the will of the majority of American voters.
Everyone says Trump is building a ballrom but I doubt it. He's using building a ballroom as an excuse to solicitate "donations" for the new building. Which is a fancy way to say bribes. If he ever completes the building Trump would have to quit soliciting money for the ballroom. Mark my words, Trump is going to continue to pocket money given directly to him the president of the united states, not to be put in escrow but to be put directly into Trump's pocket. There will still be a hole in the ground come 2028 and Trump will be billions of dollars richer. It's a simple and easy way to generate tax free income. An infinite money glitch.
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