The NYT reports.
What exactly did Trump say that supports the language "he pledged that the East Wing wouldn’t be touched by the construction." I can see that he asserted that the new construction wouldn't even touch the "existing building" and that he's changed his mind, but where's the "pledge"? You can be in the middle of a construction project and decide to do more demolition than originally planned. Trump — like other Presidents who've worked on the White House — apparently has the power to build a ballroom next to the East Wing or to demolish the East Wing and put the ballroom in its place. You may ask why the switch or whether this was the plan all along and why the deceit, but I don't see a broken pledge.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation warned that President Trump’s planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom would “overwhelm the White House itself,” which spans just 55,000 square feet. https://t.co/iRY6cgoK7c pic.twitter.com/zTfL9CsLqO
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 22, 2025
Posts
139 comments:
'The National Trust for Historic Preservation warned that President Trump’s planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom would “overwhelm the White House itself.”' Then should the White House itself be the dominant building in the immediate area, making it fit for a king?
I was surprised to learn that the East Wing is essentially an entirely separate building from the White House, connected to the main building only by a colonnade.
From the news reports, it sounded like Trump was demolishing half of what most of us think of as the White House without any oversight.
Cant read a diagram 'heck of a job'
If the new East Wing is going to overwhelm the White House, why doesn't the gigantic Treasury Building next door overwhelm the White House?
Their rage blinds them to the necessity and utility of the new structure. One could imagine a future Leftie administration tearing down the new ballroom (with taxpayer money) out of spite. Fortunately indicators suggest a future leftie administration is unlikely atm…
Those years of ballroom dancing that parents made you attend may not go to waste.
This is a lightning fast project. How did he let these contracts? Who were the bidders? What were the bids?
I'm sure it wasn't a grifty favor to his buddies. 🙄 The level of in-your-face corruption must make the Biden Crime family jealous.
Public contracts are supposed to be "public."
The East Wing is sacred, sacred I tell you. It's just one more example of how Trump is destroying democracy
The proposed East Wing footprint doesn’t look any larger than the current footprint of the West Wing, so I’m not sure how it will overwhelm the White House.
I like how WaPo took the liberty to name it the President Trump Ballroom. Nice…
’Public contracts are supposed to be "public."’
How is this a public contract? It’s being built with private funding.
Nevermind that proff. Should the US taxapayers be sending $20 billion to bail our Argentina? Keep your eyes on the moving parts, don't be distracted again...
Destroy the East Wing?!
OMG not the east wing, anything but the east wing.
I just have one question.
What's that?
What was housed in the East Wing?
"rhhardin said...
Those years of ballroom dancing that parents made you attend may not go to waste."
Whose parents? Not yours or mine. I hope JB Pritzker's and Gavin Newsome's parents taught them to ballroom dance. They will be dancing in the ballroom. You will not because you are an invisible nobody. The Obama girls and Chelsea Clinton and the legacy generation will get to foxtrot. Your children will never see the inside of that ballroom.
Drain the swamp, dummies!
"Public contracts are supposed to be "public."’
How is this a public contract? It’s being built with private funding."
Because it's on public land. Derp. It's a public building. Derp.
Since i have time, i listened to trump rambling 2 minute talk about the new ballroom. In the midst of talking about how great the ballroom will be, what a great builder he is, and some other stuff, he drops in the sentence about the existing building wont be interfered with.
Not exactly an enternal vow taken on a stack of bibles.
The square footage is remaining the same, but the capacity will be increased. Not sure how you do that, but I'm not a builder.
There just has to be a scandal somewhere in there.
Get ready for Impeachment #3.
Maybe they expect Nadler and Pritzker to show up, and need to increase the ballroom space.
The 90,000 square foot number is confusing. Most articles say the new ballroom will be 90,000 square feet. But that's huge. Is it 90,000 total square feet, adding up all levels? Or is it 90,000 on one level? That would be over two acres!
Meanwhile, the White House has 55,000 square feet if you count all three floors. That's a footprint of approximately 18000 square feet (assuming the three floors fit in the same footprint). If the new wing has a footprint of 90,000 sqft, it really would dwarf the residence. But WaPo's drawing doesn't show it that way.
Can you imagine those two hippos waddling around the ballroom in a Tux? No wonder the Democrats are against building it.
The bezos post is reaching lillian hellman standard
Meanwhile, government is shut down.
Let them eat cake, Trump has a privately funded government building to build. I am sure no favors were given, it's only the other party and scientists whose funders pull all the strings.
90000 sq feet is 90000 sq feet.
Altparse Trump’s term ‘existing building’ to be the equivalent of WaPo’s term ‘the main structure of the White House’ and he hasn’t broken any rules…
Meanwhile, government is shut down by Chuck Schumer. Who filibustered the spending bill.
Let them eat cake, says Chuck.
Everything they say is a lie
’Because it's on public land. Derp. It's a public building. Derp.’
It’s not taxpayer funded. If it were, it would be a public contract, but it’s not.
Oh luke broadwater another one to ignore
The cost per square foot is $2,200. Shazam.
I'm beginning to suspect the left's freaking out over this because ... they didn't think of it first.
Trump and friends paid to build this (and not the taxpayer).. and when Trump leaves office it will still be there.. and thus it is real hard to say he is doing anything wrong.
We hope to go to DC in spring.. maybe see the new ballroom!!!
The problem with the structure is that it's Trump who's building it, and tearing down the sacred historical wing that FDR had built in 1942. Otherwise everybody would be fine with it.
Some perspective.
The Obama Library in Chicago is 200,000 - 225,000 square feet, so the White House is a rather small and cramped building by today's standards. The East Wing is particularly cramped and out of date.
Shouldn't the question be whether or not this is an improvement?
BTW, there was a major renovation and expansion of the East Wing in 1942. The East Wing is not a sacred structure.
’If the new wing has a footprint of 90,000 sqft, it really would dwarf the residence.’
The renderings I’ve seen are at least two stories. The WaPo illustration looks more like three, but it’s just a box graphic.
My children dance, my daughter extremely well. They might dance there indeed, if they hold a ball to celebrate certain upcoming events. Cross fingers, holding balls to celebrate achievements would be a great positive for the nation and I hope it becomes a custom.
has Bob Villa from This Old House weighed in yet?
Trump shoul have invited bids for filming and defray expense!
Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.
(I should add: I know our host hates comments like that: "Why comment at all if you don't care?" But in this case, it seems to me that caring or not caring, and if you care, how much you care, are kind of the crux of things. I agree with the consensus view that the only reason this isn't being presented as "Finally, the United States will be able to hold state events on solid ground without the sound of flapping canvas - what an embarrassment that's been!" is because It's Trump™.)
Its an expansion for the future, being this is the same crew that saw half of dc burn in 2020 and violent upheaval on jan 2017 maybe they should take a breather
holding balls to celebrate achievements would be a great positive for the nation and I hope it becomes a custom.
President Clinton tried to…get that ball rolling…
Well, we're movin' on up to the east wing
To a deluxe ballroom in the sky
Movin' on up to the east wing
We finally got a piece of the pie
Fish don't fry in the kitchen
Beans don't burn on that grill
Took a whole lot of trying
Just to get up that hill
Now we're up in the big leagues
Gettin' our turn at bat
As long as we live, it's you and me, baby
There ain't nothing wrong with that
A wing where the majesty of our novel nation can be celebrated with music and dancing the night away.
I have it on good authority that the demolition of the East Wing will include the former First Lady's Throne Room.
Next we'll be hearing that the Federal Shutdown has been engineered in order to free up construction equipment and crews that would normally be on hire to the government, only at more favorable rates.
Isn't it ironic that, during the Schumer Shutdown, the privately-funded works on public facilities are going ahead and moving with decisive alacrity, as only the Private Sector can do? What happens when there's a Federal Shutdown and nobody notices the difference?
I mean, it could've been the Clinton Ballroom.
Or the Obama Ballroom.
Or even the Biden Ballroom.
But, nope. Forever henceforth it shall be known as .... (say it. say it!)
Some more perspective:
The Federal Reserve is currently executing a $2.5 billion renovation of its buildings.
Tower with a revolving casino on top, please. Gambling proceeds would repay the national debt.
That was the project that trump inspected on his own
You can see the renderings here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/07/the-white-house-announces-white-house-ballroom-construction-to-begin/
I think it looks pretty good. Some might say the best.
The Mammoth-cheese then resided in the East Room of the White House for what is believed to be the better part of the next three years ....
so East Wing needed good airing out!?
Are you ready, J.D.? (Uh-huh)
Tulsi? (Yeah)
Marco? (Okay)
Alright, fellas, well, let's go
Well, it's been getting so hard
Living with the things Trump did to me, ah-ha
No Kings are getting so strange
I'd like to tell you everything I see
Oh, I see Hakeem at the back
As a matter of fact, his eyes are as red as a sun
And AOC in the corner, let no one ignore her
'Cause she thinks she's the passionate one
Oh, yeah, it was like lightning
Rhetoric was frightening
Soros money was soothing
So they all started grooving
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Hillary in the back said, "Everyone, attack"
And it turned into a ballroom blitz
AOC in the corner said, "Boy, I wanna warn ya
It'll turn into a ballroom blitz"
Thank you, JaimeRoberto, for the link to the actual architects' renderings.
If you look closely at the WaPo tweet, it says "A Post analysis of renderings and architectural models released by the White House..."
Caveat lector.
human small intestine is only 3 to 4 cm in diameter and approximately 7 metres in length, it has been estimated that its total absorptive surface area is approximately 4,500 square metres (5,400 square yards).times 9 for 48,600 square feet
ball room easily covered by guts of Nadler and Pritzker
Waltzing, foxtrotting, schottische, and tangoing the night away. Or possibly just the Trump Dance to Y.M.C.A. It'll be a ball.
When Mr. Trump first announced his plans for the ballroom, he pledged that the East Wing wouldn’t be touched by the construction....
"It doesn't matter what you say. One week, two weeks, three weeks — you've got to go with what the situation on the ground is," Fauci said.
"One could imagine a future Leftie administration tearing down the new ballroom (with taxpayer money) out of spite."
Hell, the Biden administration sold off border-wall components that were sitting on-site for pennies on the dollar, so yeah.
They're pissed because it's Trump. For 11 years and counting Trump has turned the Dems and the Media into NPCs. On any issue that you know what Trump thinks it's a waste of time to ask what the Dems and Media think.
"The National Trust for Historic Preservation warned..."
That's these people.
Gutless motherfuckers.
You may ask why the switch or whether this was the plan all along and why the deceit, but I don't see a broken pledge.
No pledge, no switch, no ginning up of Trump hatred, then there's no story. "Trump begins construction as promised" is yesterday's news.
They're pissed because it's Trump.
I'd say they're pissed because Trump is showing you can build things without illegal immigrant labor. Just look at all the Americans willing to do these jobs!
The HOA, headed by mostly democrats, is really upset by the noise and heavy trucks, as big as whales, coming in and out of there.
Iswydt
"They're pissed because it's Trump"
They're pissed becsuse no poor people had to be displaced for the project
The Philippines Foreign Service used to teach its personnel to dance. I dont know if it still does. Its "party piece" was to dance the "Rigodon de honor", a traditional country dance, part of the ancient Filipino tradition of country dances. They love a party, even if you have to take lessons. Not at all different in from what went on in Jane Austen novels.
At a diplomatic reception in Singapore -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV9Ovzkg6jI
Did anybody check the east wing for precious classified documents?
I suggest the US State Department take up dancing, teach its personnel to do so, and throw balls regularly. Its a certain win in the "soft power" competition. All the ladies in whatever country they hold such events will be wild for it. Most women dearly wish for occasions to dress up, which they no longer have these days.
As far as private funding of buildings on government lands- a lot of the buildings at all the service academies are built and were built by the academy alumni associations and private donors. I'm certain there are numerous other examples at the federal, state, and even local levels.
More of this, and less grey bureaucracy -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElptopGToUk
Well, it seems the Philippine Foreign service still dances. This is by the Philippine Consulate in Milan, this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp9NCoJCB7o
This proposal does seem over the top. I would think approval from all sorts of places would be required. After all, the WH is a federal building. I do hope Trump isn't ignoring procedure.
It needs a statue of Edward Coristine at the entry way plays AC/DC's Big Balls when you walk up to it.
"Altparse Trump’s term ‘existing building’ to be the equivalent of WaPo’s term ‘the main structure of the White House’ and he hasn’t broken any rules…"
Yeah, I was going to say that too. I agree. That's a path they could take but I think the stronger argument is that no promise was made and as the project advanced it was changed. He wasn't locked in.
Interestingly, there are several Governor's Mansions in the USA that feature ballrooms. So one could argue constructively, that it's unseemly for the White to have to rent tents for the functions of State, as if they're a common wedding party or something.
I haven't thought much about it, but Teddy Roosevelt apparently erected the East Wing at first to provide a porte-cochère entrance for visiting dignitaries, with the long hall connecting to the White House acting as a cloakroom for their outer garments. Of course all that has progressively been modified and enlarged for modern purposes, notably by FDR to build an underground Presidential Bunker. I would imagine there is more to the construction plan than meets the eye, especially below ground, since we live in a different age now. I'm betting that the most impressive aspects of this project will be kept classified.
By the way, since there's an election coming up in Virginia, it might interest everybody to know that the Governor of that state lives in the Governor's Palace - and it has a ballroom. Heaven help all those explosion-prone heads if Winsome Sears wins, the thought of it, a black lady living in a Palace...
"Waltzing, foxtrotting, schottische, and tangoing the night away. Or possibly just the Trump Dance to Y.M.C.A. It'll be a ball."
Yeah, I want to see dancing. Let them dance.
The British burned down the White House in 1814. Perhaps they were right?
Trump doesn’t pledge or promise that I can ever remember. He seems to like the freedom of changing his mind, even in mid- sentence.
Only a hessian would come up with that
Beasts of England at 4:22===the cost of construction for the Ballroom is going to be $2,200 per square foot. Here in Los Angeles, the cost of rebuilding almost anyone of the larger houses in Pacific Palisades will exceed $2,200 per square foot by a considerable margin. Now a ballroom or meeting/conference facility doesn't have a lot of interior walls and such. But heckfire $2,200 per square foot might get you something that looks like a mid tier hotel conference facility. Not luxury.
Trump seems to think Americans should be pleased, even proud, that he and his patriotic and oh-so-generous billionaires are footing the bill for this White House party venue, rather than taxpayers. Yet, it is this arrangement that makes the whole project reek of pay-to-play cronyism. Expect the number of presidential fundraiser events to increase dramatically. And in the end, what will the deals made with billionaires cost the taxpayer?
Now he has dreamed up a new twist to take $230 million from the taxpayer to have the DOJ repay him for all of the lawsuits with appeals in which he was a party.
Asked about the issue, the president said, “I was damaged very greatly, and any money I would get, I would give to charity.” Trump's history with his charity denies that this would ever happen.
Trump admits, “I’m the one who makes the decision, and that decision would have to go across my desk, and it’s awfully strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself.” But Bondi would have the check written in a New York minute.
So what will happen here is that Trump will take the money and will not spend a dime on the grand ballroom.
Rigodon de Honor
Ladies curtsy. Gentlemen bow.
The ladies and lords of dance.
A very civilized climate. Life elevated.
Maybe the new WH ballroom will see the revival of Disco. The times are right for it.
"but where's the "pledge"?"
what are the words they ALWAYS use when Trump says something?
Oh yeah; asserted without evidence.
do i have this right?
is DD Driver actually complaining that this project is Not going slow enough?
DD is that the hill you want to die on?
That Governement Projects MUST BE glacial ?
The project also creates a new grand public entrance to the White House that makes sense from an event planning and security standpoint.
Beside occasional state dinner, I could see this addition frequently providing space facilitating all kinds of receptions and events that would make an invitation to the White House much more available to the average citizen.
Have you seen him, so fine and pretty?
Fooled me with his style and ease
And I feel him from across the room
Yes, it's Trump in the third degree
Ooh, baby, baby
Won't ya turn your head my way
Ooh, baby, baby (a-come on)
Take a chance, you're old enough
To dance the MAGA way!
A live wire, barely a beginner
But just watch that POTUS go
He's on fire,' cause dancin' gets him higher
Than anything else he knows
Ooh, baby, baby
Won't ya turn your head my way
Ooh, baby, baby
Well, don't skip romance 'cause you're old enough to
Dance the MAGA way
CC, JSM
The CEOs and oligarchs paying for Trump’s ballroom and construction projects are not doing it out of the kindness of their hearts.
"Yet, it is this arrangement that makes the whole project reek of pay-to-play cronyism."
The problem there, Comrade, is that they aren't paying Trump, they're paying us, the citizens, by building an addition to "our" house. Trump's not taking it home with him.
The gifts don't provide them with any leverage other than a small amount of goodwill. Some might call it "protection."
“Government is simply the name we give to the things we choose to do together.”
- B. Sanders
the White House has 55,000 square feet if you count all three floors.
The main house has 4 floors (that we know of) plus work rooms under the north portico and driveway. The East Wing has/had a bomb shelter (Emergency Operations Center) under it.
I wish they didn't have to add the corridor to cover the East Room's Palladian window, but it would be silly to make guests change floors twice more for events in both spaces, as they already entered at basement level. Hopefully, they can hide it from the north with some trees to preserve the facade's symmetry as much as possible.
It also needs a covered entrance like the one the deceased East wing had, though they may have quit using it for security reasons.
Its at most a transient favor to Trump, but a permanent gift to the US government. This is an absurd complaint.
Why does anyone interact with these moronic libtards? They don't give a damn about the "East Wing". They can't even tell you what the Goddamn East wing is for! Everything and , i mean, I mean every Goddamn thing, is just a chance to push "the party line". Which in 2025, means "attack Trump 24/7/365".
Everything Goddamn thing with them just comes down to one thing - how does the Left maintain or gain power. Fuck them.
[Verse 1]
Well, I'm upper, upper-class, high-society
God's gift to ballroom notoriety
And I always fill my ballroom, the event is never small
The social pages say I've got the biggest balls of all
[Chorus]
I've got big balls, I've got big balls
They're such big balls, and they're dirty big balls
And he's got big balls and she's got big balls
But we've got the biggest balls of them all
[Verse 2]
And my balls are always bouncing, my ballroom always full
And everybody comes and comes again
If your name is on the guest list, no one can take you higher
Everybody says I've got great balls of fire
[Chorus]
I've got big balls, oh, I've got big balls
And they're such big balls, dirty big balls
And he's got big balls and she's got big balls
But we've got the biggest balls of them all
[Verse 3]
Some balls are held for charity and some for fancy dress
But when they're held for pleasure, they're the balls that I like best
My balls are always bouncing to the left and to the right
It's my belief that my big balls should be held every night
[Chorus]
Oh, we've got big balls, we've got big balls
We've got big balls, dirty big balls
He's got big balls and she's got big balls
But we've got the biggest balls of them all
The ballroom is separated from the historic part of the White House by a long passage way (aka hyphen), which is the proper way to add to a historic building. See page 7.
https://home.nps.gov/orgs/1739/upload/preservation-brief-14-exterior-additions.pdf
I won’t say that every person who clutches pearls is in the National Trust for Historic Preservation, but everyone in that organization has carpel tunnel from clutching pearls.
"Maybe the new WH ballroom will see the revival of Disco. The times are right for it." Studio 47.
"gspencer said...
This proposal does seem over the top. I would think approval from all sorts of places would be required. After all, the WH is a federal building. I do hope Trump isn't ignoring procedure."
As the head of the executive branch, Trump would be the person to set such procedure.
Its something alot of people don't seem to get - who exactly do you think the President needs to get permission from ?
Pretty sure Trump and friends who ponied up for this gift to current and future presidencies did so out of love for America and it's projection of power and beauty. And it was for the use of many (vs. basketball courts or bowling allies). Trump is a builder. And a historian. If one were to objectively learn about him as a person (and not a projection), one might learn he knows a lot about art, American history, aesthetics, entertaining, foreign business, and more. But one would then have to put down their own stereotypes and biases and consider he's human. Imperfect, like all of use, but with a love for (traditional) American values. Sadly, I'm only giving the ballroom a 50/50 chance of surviving a future Democrat administration...spite and destruction are all the Democrats have left it seems.
Whether it’s conservatives complaining about a redesign of Cracker Barrel’s across the country, or liberals complaining about Trump bulldozing the East Wing of the White House, it’s clear both sides are engaged in a new political battleground over architecture and design.
Just click. for the meme: https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2025/10/22/show-me-on-the-building-where-the-bad-man-hurt-you/
Tia Carrere’s version of Ballroom Blitz from Wayne’s World: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M30ACuNgKfU
’Here in Los Angeles, the cost of rebuilding almost anyone of the larger houses in Pacific Palisades will exceed $2,200 per square foot by a considerable margin.’
The last home I had built - about twenty years ago - was $350 per square foot (not including the lot), and it was at the higher end: ten foot ceilings, five-fixture marble baths, Glitza finished wide-plank red oak floors, and all the fun stuff. $2,200 per square foot gives me the willies… lol
tcrosse said...
“Maybe the new WH ballroom will see the revival of Disco. The times are right for it.”
We need the platform shoes with the fish tanks in the heels.
Beasts of England said...
"’Here in Los Angeles, the cost of rebuilding almost anyone of the larger houses in Pacific Palisades will exceed $2,200 per square foot by a considerable margin.’"
I think the cheapest lot anyone could find in Pacific Palisades was 2 million for 6000 square feet. An odd shaped lots in Malibu on the beach start at 8 million and go up.
One builder is sinking pilings 60 feet down on the beach. There will be 35 of them at a million dollars each. Chinese nationals are buying up a lot of the real estate.
’I think the cheapest lot anyone could find in Pacific Palisades was 2 million for 6000 square feet.’
I have a buddy in Manhattan Beach who bought an older home on a lot about that size a long while back. He doesn’t talk much about property taxes but he’s happy to talk about appreciation. :)
Name one thing Trump ever did that Democrats didn't criticize. I don't mean they praised it or even even grudgingly agreed with, but simply didn't go ballistic over. It's chronic mass hysteria, debilitating, embarrassing, and futile, and they will never outgrow it.
"It's chronic mass hysteria, debilitating, embarrassing, and futile, and they will never outgrow it."
They will never outgrow it because as a group they are too senescent and morally diseased to contemplate any reform.
"We need the platform shoes with the fish tanks in the heels."
BBC reports on who will pay for the new ballroom:
The US president has said that he personally will pay for significant portions of its construction, and suggested that some still anonymous donors would be willing to spend more than $20m to complete the project.
Let's do the math. The new Whitehouse structure is pegged to cost $250 million. Anonymous donors will contribute $20 million. That means generous Donnie will put in exactly $230 million, which is what he will collect from Pam Bondi in taxpayer money for supposed payments he made in lawsuits involving the government.
Amy Klobachar posted on X that Trump was LITERALLY destroying the White House.
Have they no shame?
Who is actually buying that blatant lie? Are Democrats that gullible.
“ I'd say they're pissed because Trump is showing you can build things without illegal immigrant labor. Just look at all the Americans willing to do these jobs!”
And pissed because he is building it without taxpayer funding. And building it without giving Dems an opportunity for graft, by giving the bid to friends who will kickbacks back to them.
“The problem there, Comrade, is that they aren't paying Trump, they're paying us, the citizens, by building an addition to "our" house. Trump's not taking it home with him.”
It may, in the end, end up being called the “Trump Ballroom”, as is often the case with Presidents ordering improvements to the WH.
A little historical perspective from my BFF, Gemini:
"The 1942 expansion of the East Wing was funded by the United States government as a wartime expenditure during World War II. Its construction was part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's effort to accommodate the federal government's growing staff and functions."
You remember reading about FDR, right? The guy who regarded himself as indispensable, who felt entitled to break with the two-term tradition set by George Washington and become President for life (dare I say, like a King?)? Who used tax money during WWII to pay for this?
Wince get's the point: it's about security. The space was previously used for big formal events set up under tents, with scores of foreign leaders sometimes having to dash through fabric tunnels into a temporary tented area and exit the same way. As did our leaders and president.
The White House is quite small for entertaining. Thus the tents. Trump is fixing a serious security weakness. And I have no doubt that publicly released plans do not include the classified security measures put in place for evacuations of, say, 200 world diplomats and leaders and Congressmen and SCJudges and the President to safe rooms, right?
It’ll be near it but not touching it...
If the WaPo depiction is even close to accurate there's no way to square this part of the statement with the claim that what Trump meant by "existing building" was the entirety of the White House including the two wings. There simply wouldn't be room to keep the current East Wing structure without eliminating the east entrance drive. The only logical antecedent for it is the White House proper.
This is on the same level as using 'body' to mean the entire carcass of a bird. Once you start talking about 'wings', then 'body' is the rest of the bird that is not a wing, and you can't continue to use 'body' to mean the whole bird including the wings without causing considerable confusion.
Virtually every 'controversial' statement Trump is reported to make relies on this kind of willful and often illogically misinterpretation.
Also, "not touching it" makes no sense if the only portion of the East Wing demolished was the portico. The new ballroom would be required to 'touch' the remainder in order to connect with the rest of the structure. The new East Wing is only 'not touching' the original White House, in the same say the current East and West Wing structures are near but connected.
Misinformation warning:
conservatives complaining about a redesign of Cracker Barrel’s across the country
When you try to make a point but you start out with a lie it doesn’t work. As usual we were LAUGHING at the woke CEO of Cracker Barrel because they were Budlighting their brand. We’re always laughing at you leftist idiots, when not dodging your bullets and mostly peaceful riots, but due to a severe lack of humor or common sense you interpret mockery as anger, laughter as threats and ironically it just makes us laugh even harder.
I think building a patio in the Rose Garden is a good idea. Routinely holding events on the grass has seemed like an odd choice as I see them on the news. Not everyone can walk well on grass, and wheelchairs don't work well, either. I am surprised the liberals did not build a patio just to aid handicapped people.
I think a ballroom with an entrance adjacent to a street is a good idea. We were routinely holding large gatherings in tents, with grass for the floor? A 90,000 sq ft building is not a large building. Big box stores and large grocery stores are of similar size. The new building can have permanent security. I predict lots of groups will now be able to hold an event at the White House, and create a lot of good publicity beforehand and good memories after.
I don't see any hiding of information. The AE firm is AECOM. The general contractor is Clark Construction. The project completion date is 2027 so I don't consider this a particularly rushed project. The White House press release saying AECOM and Clark are selected is dated in July. Preconstruction work has been going on for several months.
These are some of the largest firms in the country. Only a large firm could get the resources together to do a large project quickly. I would guess that there are few firms with security clearances to work on the White House.
Here is an article from last August.
https://www.contractornews.com/1024/clark-construction-wins-200m-white-house-ballroom-project
The destruction of the East Wing began with Michelle Obama growing arugula....
He’s calling it The Donald J. Trump Ballroom at the White House. That would raise eyebrows no matter who was President.
However, just because Trump puts his name on the new ballroom doesn’t mean it will stay there. We’ll see what his personal contribution turns out to be, but I suspect he won’t be the largest donor. But perhaps it will be enough to name some feature of the new ballroom after him, like the restrooms could be named The Donald John and The Melania.
The ballroom could be used for more public purposes. The White House is open for tours 24 hours a week and gets 10,000 visitors a week, a rate of 417 visitors per hour. All those tours could be staged from the ballroom. Or perhaps the tourists will be turned away with signs that say, “Sorry, public, you didn’t pay for this.”
More news (Seattle Times):
The work is so intensive that it has raised questions, particularly among skeptical White House reporters, about the true purpose of the project.
D.D. Driver said...
"Public contracts are supposed to be "public."’
How is this a public contract? It’s being built with private funding."
Because it's on public land. Derp. It's a public building. Derp."
Honest to god, why do you care? It's only because you want to be constantly pissed off at Trump. If Obama did it you'd turn it into a shrine. If this is your life. Constantly monitoring what Trump does so you can trigger yourself you are truly a sick little man. Derp
Ok, I have to admit that the Donald John made me laugh.
I am also amused by the Seattle Times' hushed air of conspiracy.
That Inga dude is going to be mad.
One big difference between Trump and previous Presidents who have done Whitehouse construction jobs is that he is actually an expert on building. I suspect, if pressed, he will be able to detail the technical reasons why it was better to demo that work around. If you've ever seen pictures of the Truman rebuild you'd know the place was gutted.
"Honest to god, why do you care? It's only because you want to be constantly pissed off at Trump. If Obama did it you'd turn it into a shrine."
Derp. Try again. I detest Obama. (And Democrats.)
I'm actually someone who cares about transparency and the rule of law. That's why I care.
Destroying buildings worked for Netanyahu in Gaza. Could it work for Trump in Washington DC?
"I'm actually someone who cares about transparency and the rule of law. That's why I care."
Your concern was totally lacking for the Biden administration. That makes you a liar and someone whos opinion I can ignore.
You should start a new tag, Professor: "Whatever Trump Does Is Wrong"
some party will be spending billions in coupla years seeking to gain rights to (re)name that ballroom
some party will be spending billions in coupla years seeking to gain rights to (re)name that ballroom
It will of course go down in history as the "Trump Ballroom", just like the "Lincoln Bedroom" and the "Roosevelt Meeting Room". Only snide liberals will call it the "East Wing Ballroom" or something like that for few years. This will be as reliable a marker for a butt-hurt left-wing TDS loser as a pussy hat or a face mask worn while driving alone.
The likes of AOC and Mamdani will campaign on promises to tear it down, but of course this will not be done even if they win.
The work is so intensive that it has raised questions, particularly among skeptical White House reporters, about the true purpose of the project.
The emergency bunker underneath the East Wing dates to World War II and is practically certain to be cramped, shabby, insecure, and inadequate. Of course they are putting something better in. Why wouldn't they?
The biggest problem I have with Trump, the real estate developer, is that he has terrible, tacky taste. The next president will have to fix everything, maybe tear down the new building and start over.
Sometimes we have to take the bad with the good. This seems absurd.
The biggest problem I have with Trump, the real estate developer, is that he has terrible, tacky taste.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
I rather like the new Oval Office. It's like an understated version of what happens when someone from India or Iran makes it big in America. One prosperous Sikh doctor whose home I visited was decorated with 14 different colors of natural stone, and about 5 times more decorative gilded doodads on the wall. It was over the top but it worked.
I think the new ballroom will be just fine.
The next president will have to fix everything, maybe tear down the new building and start over.
Ha ha, yeah sure, that's not going to happen. No Congressman whose wife wore high heels to a state dinner in a tent on the grass will ever hear the end of it if they appropriate funds for that.
Wait until they find out that Trump is re-naming the White House bowling alley “Big Balls.”
This is totally silly, its a building! Its not the "peoples house" that's for those who live in delusion. It's the person who is occupying the premise at the time, peoples house is bullcrap ,has always been,Do you really believe you would be invited to a ball or a social dinner there. Does the occupier give a flying FUK about you? PEOPLES HOUSE statements are just nostalgic and make believe. The next person in there will do what they want to do,like previous put in a basketball court,how abut a bowling alley,maybe fix the attic,it still will not involve a single person up in here,your not of that class sorry.Build it up ,tear it down and so it goes, Peoples house=bullcrap...You think the people investing in it and not the taxpayer are going to allow any input from you? If it was the peoples hoiuse it would go thru channels be paid for by the peoples taxes and approved, this is "just want the present occupier wants and you cant do nothing about it. Move on forget the history its slowly being evaporated anyway.Its all symbolic and drifting away. I got my peoples house, I bought it long time go.
It's hilarious how all the lefty internationalists here are objecting to a structure that will enable any president to safely host more international diplomats and leaders under far safer conditions than the current tent/canvas tunnel situation.
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