President Trump: Making America Great Again...

[falafel]

That what bothers me the most, along with the fear he and/or his acolytes will start calling it the Trump Ballroom. The White House has undergone may changes over the years, but none by a president with such tacky taste as DJT's.

I was thinking today it wouldn't be too far fetched to see DJT install a large gold TRUMP sign on top of the White House. Its already being called the Trump Ballroom. Trump already named the new government cheap(er) prescription website as Trump.Rx.

TRUMP white house.png

[Shaka]

if you are talking about people on this site, I would quibble with that characterization. I am definitely concerned, but so far all I have posted is that the ballroom will nearly equal the rest of white house altogether. That's a pretty massive change to the White House that apparently was not discussed with anyone.

I am also not pleased with the continued lying from our President. On July 31, he said that the ball room would be "near" the East Wing, but it wouldn't "touch it" and that the existing structure wouldn't be touched. Less than 3 months later, in the middle of a government shutdown, he tore down 2/3 of the White House, demolishing the entire East Wing. I guess that's what he meant by the ballroom "wouldn't touch it".



Of course, that is not correct. I don't know if you have looked at this issue very deeply if you weren't aware of that. They have been tearing into the building itself (you could see the floors) for days.

Regardless of that, the White House is undoubtedly a historic building, if not the nation's most historic building. There are design review committees and a budget approved by Congress for the renovations and modernization projects that a President has authority to conduct. That's what the other presidents who changed the building went through. Of course, Trump installed a new head of the architectural committee and that guy is claiming the committee has authority over construction, not destruction. And by having it "fully funded by outside groups, Trump is apparently side-stepping any budget approved by Congress. Btw, when will those donations be disclosed?? I would love to see exactly who paid how much to whom.

And I know that you and brock and others have no problem with it. Lots of other people have a big problem with it. I feel like I have a medium problem with it.

I don't consider the East Wing or the West Wing to be iconic parts of the White House. The East Wing is more of an annex that part of the actual White House. It's antiquated and doesn't meet current needs. It should have been rebuilt years ago. They have been using tents for years because it doesn't do the job.

Good Trump!

I do share PAC's fear that it will be a gaudy.

[falafel]

I don't consider the East Wing or the West Wing to be iconic parts of the White House. The East Wing is more of an annex that part of the actual White House. It's antiquated and doesn't meet current needs. It should have been rebuilt years ago. They have been using tents for years because it doesn't do the job.

Good Trump!

I do share PAC's fear that it will be a gaudy.

I am not sure that is the standard we are going by, but I'll check. Feels a little like the Jay Santos Height Test.

Plenty of people have been saying for years that the White House needs a larger space to hold large state dinners, to your point about the tents. I don't think most people have a problem with creating a larger space for that. Here are the main concerns I have:

1. The proposed ballroom is 90,000 sq. ft. The entire White House Executive Mansion is only 56,000 sq.ft. Together with the West Wing they are 99,000. You and PAC and I have concerns about it being a gaudy ballroom, and it's already a behemoth in size. Things aren't trending in the right direction.

2. Building this thing, even with donated funds, must look pretty ridiculous to the federal workers who aren't being paid. The optics of this, timed nicely with Trump's demand that U.S. taxpayers give him $230M for the DOJ investigations, are terrible.

3. There are massive conflicts of interest and ethical concerns with the funding. Donating money to the pet cause of the most powerful man in America (and getting more powerful by the day) might seem a little like paying for favors. These are companies that do business with the federal government and respond to government RFPs. I don't think it is any stretch that Trump might decide to award a big contract to a Fortune 500 company that donated to the ballroom vs. one that did not. We don't tolerate this kind of thing anywhere in politics or government.

[dabrockster]

Would you feel the same about tearing down the Washington monument or the Jefferson memorial? And doing it without any oversight?

Are you seriously comparing a hallway/carport off the east went to monuments.

As for oversight, if it is fully funded by private money, the POTUS is the lone person to approve all permits but must be approved by the WH building architect...

[Northwestcoug]

Are you seriously comparing a hallway/carport off the east went to monuments.

As for oversight, if it is fully funded by private money, the POTUS is the lone person to approve all permits but must be approved by the WH building architect...

Again with the carport. I've never been inside but it is obviously not just that. And is it even that? A google search does not mention anything about a carport.

Where are you and Shaka getting that talking point?

Let's see if we can meet a little in the middle. As I and others have said, as far as Trump scandals go, this doesn't register in the top 10. But you have to agree there is only one president that would go about it in this way. He very publicly says the east wing won't be touched, then it is demolished without any explanation to anyone why the plans fundamentally changed. Why does he do it this way? Because he relishes the power to do anything he wants, crashing through presidential norms because he can. You can see at least a little of that happening here right?

[falafel]

Are you seriously comparing a hallway/carport off the east went to monuments.

As for oversight, if it is fully funded by private money, the POTUS is the lone person to approve all permits but must be approved by the WH building architect...

Why do people calling the East Wing of the White House a carport? It was a 12,000 sq. ft. two-story building. That would be about 30 carports. But of course, this is not a carport at all. I suggest we just deal in facts, not hyperbole.

As for private funding, do you see any conflict of interest here? Hundreds of millions of dollars being "donated" by private businesses with private interests to the President's pet project. Imagine if the U.S. President (any of them) were consistently soliciting and accepting donations for some pet project that only the President really oversees. No Congressional oversight. What is to stop some corrupt President (any of them) from moving some of that money to his own pocket? If there is no oversight, and no one in the Executive Branch dares to stand up to that President for fear of upsetting him/her, the situation becomes any other corrupt country where you have to make a "donation" to gain favor with the President.

This is from a conservative eithics attorney:

Richard Painter, who served as the chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, told Newsweek that the funding model amounts to “use of public office for private gain in violation of federal ethics rules.”

He said the “bottom line is these are companies that want something from the government, and they are paying 1) for access to the president and other high-ranking officials and 2) hoping it will buy them what they want. Many, such as Lockheed Martin, want big Defense Department contracts, so our now trillion-dollar defense budget (about half of it contracts) will grow even more, all so we can save taxpayers $200 million building a ballroom the White House doesn’t need.”

He added that the ballroom would “be used to entertain big campaign donors by this and future presidents, perpetuating White House pay to play.”

https://www.newsweek.com/who-is-fund...lroom-10924885

[Maximus]

Lol the dude who never pays anyone back for anything is dgonan donate millions of hos own money. Sure

Who the heck looks at this and says oh good idea buegt1dgcqwf1.png

[Shaka]

The inital part that got demolished, that started all the furor, was the carport.

[falafel]

The inital part that got demolished, that started all the furor, was the carport.

they had to start somewhere.

[BigPiney]

I think it will be cool to see the Jeffery Epstein Memorial Ballroom when it is done.

[Northwestcoug]

How to make the East wing destruction and ballroom even more Trumpy? Destroy the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden while you're at it.

[SteelBlue]

Why do people calling the East Wing of the White House a carport? It was a 12,000 sq. ft. two-story building. That would be about 30 carports. But of course, this is not a carport at all. I suggest we just deal in facts, not hyperbole.

It's funny to see maga fall in line with talking points. First he wasn't going to touch it, now "it was just a car port." Next, it'll be that it was ugly and he's beautifying it. Always a big nothing burger to the red hat crowd.

[Moliere]

I can see the need for a more modern and larger ballroom at the White House so I guess I don’t really care that the east wing got demolished. Was it historical for some reason or another?

[Northwestcoug]

Making the official white house website fun again (MWHWFA?). Or at least islamophobic:

• Another post features a photo of Obama wearing a white turban and robe during a 2006 visit to Kenya, which it baselessly claims is a "Muslim Brotherhood Visit," claiming Trump's predecessor in 2012 was hosting a group that "promotes Islamist extremism and has ties to Hamas."
• The photograph began circulating during Obama's first presidential campaign amid false claims that the Christian leader is a Muslim — something Trump has previously speculated about.

https://www.axios.com/2025/10/24/tru...-wing-ballroom

[falafel]

It's funny to see maga fall in line with talking points. First he wasn't going to touch it, now "it was just a car port." Next, it'll be that it was ugly and he's beautifying it. Always a big nothing burger to the red hat crowd.

Think we were at that point yesterday, at least in this thread.