The White House is adding a ballroom and it’s basically the end of the world.
That’s been the media message the last few days as the Left has been in near hysterics about a much-needed expansion to the president’s mansion. I guess the government shutdown isn’t going quite as well as they thought.
“‘It’s your house. And he’s destroying it’: Trump demolishes White House East Wing,” reads a headline from Politico.
“Trump is destroying the entire White House East Wing to feed his ego,” reads another headline on MSNBC.
This is, truly, one of the dumbest media-concocted “scandals” of the Trump era. And that’s saying a lot.
If the legacy media headlines are to be believed, Trump is demolishing the White House in a brazen act of diabolical demolition.
Not to be outdone, Democrats are sounding the alarm about what is surely the end of democracy, which has come to an end at least a dozen times since 2016.
Here is California Gov. Gavin Newsom who bravely dared to show the country this picture of construction taking place next to the White House. Oh, excuse me, a picture of Trump “literally destroying the White House.”
What a monster! Trump is finishing the job the British started in the War of 1812! The ghost of Abigail Adams weeps!
In case you got this far and bought into these obviously absurd takes, here’s the skinny about what’s really happening.
The White House is fairly modestly sized for the mansion of the head of state. The president in the American system must perform the political and ceremonial functions that come with that job, as is tradition handed down by President George Washington.
That means that the president must hold state dinners and other such things as a matter of regular diplomacy. The current space in the East Room of the White House can only fit 200 people. This has occasionally caused challenges when the president has hosted larger events, as the White House explained in a statement in July.
The statement isn’t just some kind of spin. In 2009, President Barack Obama held a large, 350-person event for the Indian prime minister. It had to be moved to a temporary tented space on the South Lawn to accommodate all the guests, which turned problematic—and diplomatically embarrassing—when it rained.
So, the White House expansion makes practical sense. It’s not even being done with taxpayer money, as Trump said that it’s being paid for with his own money and private donations. Further, what’s being removed isn’t very large at all when considering the overall size of the White House complex.
To top this all off, it must be noted that modifications and expansions to the White House have a long presidential tradition.
The building had to be almost entirely rebuilt after the British burned it to the ground in the aforementioned War of 1812.
Chester A. Arthur, one of the bearded nothings of the Gilded Age (OK, that’s probably unfair, but I’m guessing most Americans couldn’t pick him out of a lineup), had the slightly more famous Louis Comfort Tiffany lavishly redesign many of the White House rooms in 1884.
The 20th century brought constant changes.
Theodore Roosevelt remodeled and “modernized” most of the building not long after Arthur’s redecoration, in 1902. Roosevelt wanted the president’s mansion to be less frilly, more in line with America’s early republican simplicity.
William Taft added the now famous Oval Office in 1909. Franklin D. Roosevelt put in a swimming pool in 1933. Richard Nixon built a bowling alley in the basement in 1973.
Harry Truman basically gutted the White House in the early 1950s at great taxpayer expense.
Even Obama made some major White House renovations. He had a tennis court changed to a basketball court. But he went even further than that.
Funny enough, an old CNN segment dug up on social media shows the news network enthusiastically covering the $376 million Obama renovation in 2010.
Notice how differently CNN covered Trump’s renovation compared to Obama’s.
So, this whole story is really much ado about nothing. The people squawking about this were among those who just a few years ago openly celebrated the destruction of history and architecture in the name of political correctness. It’s rich for them to scream bloody murder about our “sacred” buildings now.
The criticism is far from serious, but I think there is actually something more to the left-wing freak-out over the White House expansion than just the usual Trump Derangement Syndrome. As writer Mark Hemingway pointed out on X, what is really eating away at them is that there will now be a permanent reminder in the future that Trump was president.
That this president is putting his mark on history and making physical changes to the White House that they perhaps thought they would never lose after 2020 is too much to bear.
Hence the wailing and gnashing of teeth over something that would normally only interest architectural enthusiasts and Washington tourists.
Jarrett Stepman is a columnist for The Daily Signal. He is also the author of “The War on History: The Conspiracy to Rewrite America’s Past.”
Reprinted with Permission from The Daily Signal – By Jarrett Stepman
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
Left will be enraged and in fighting mode no matter what President will do or won’t do, It is him, that enrages them not the alterations , as if they give a hoot, the hysteria and hypocrisy is pathetically laughable, their selective outrage predictable, how sad and small they are, mouth of a lion, heart of a mouse. No character, magnanimity or capable of generosity, dwarfs.
And, shall I guess that every renovation besides the one that President Trump is currently overseeing was paid for at the taxpayer’s expense.
The irrational DIMMs go apoplectic over EVERYTHING! There have been 12 renovations at the WH since 1900 so what’s the big deal? Truman totally gutted the interior and started from scratch. Of course, he was a SANE Democrat, not one of today’s loons! No taxpayer dollars are going into this project; that should please any SANE person! How often do you get a $300,000,000 present?
A CNN report from 2010: $376 million White House renovation during the Obama Administration. Where was the Democrat outrage then? Stupid & lazy ppl should know that at least 8 presidents made significant changes to the WH. This president didn’t allow the destruction of historic statues and other reminders of our history but Dems gave the destruction total impunity.
The useless takers, whining dubs are all due to a free one-way trip to a place they cannot return from. He is paying the cost, not the taxpayer, so what is it to them?
President Trump has done more in a few months than the wrecking ball of democrats has ruined in years, and most definitely Biden and his mob. Americans speak loud and clear and this summarizes the decent people, the true Americans, and the rest!!!!
Excellent article! If you believed most of what was said and printed you would indeed believe Donald is nothing more than a radical power grabber. The fact that he is footing much of the bill himself should cause friends of the wacko-lefties to stick a sock in their mouths to shut them up. They have a tendency to run a story into the ground- boring others and embarrassing themselves. I’ll bet the ladies on The View are salivating over this one- heck this will give them enough griping material to last at least six months if not longer.
Sadly, the current reality is: whenever a Democratic politician speaks; they are telling you a lie.
Obummer got a basketball court at taxpayers expense. President Trump is paying for the ballroom with his money and donations.
If it built to match the picture in the article’s title, it looks appropriate to the style of the period in which the other parts of the White House were built. It’s beautiful. When it’s done, disallow any Dems from entering it for at least the remainder of the term of whatever GOP President is in office at the time.
Compare it to the obama library which is paid for by tax dollars.
Proof that the democrats are truly a party of shitiots.
Democrat Thought-Speak: Protest Everything, Trump BAD! Come on Demoncrats, you must see just how STUPID you look to the American citizen. This addition to our White House is costing the public NOTHING! It is badly needed if we are to remain a world power. Look around the globe. European countries have massive government buildings. Look to England, Germany or France. This is a gift from our President.
This is just the President using the predictable gullibility of the left while doing his magic.
Watch this hand while I do important things that you sheep won’t see until they’re done.
Bravo President Trump!!
Why are we even have an article about this. We all know the democrats lie or tell half truths. It’s a great headline “Trump is bulldozing the White House”. “Trump is busy building a ballroom, Miller is running the White House”. Every president from Lincoln on down has remodeled, added and tore down things in the White House. Truman tore the interior apart and he lived in Blair House as president. There were no headlines “Truman bulldozed the White House. Of course not he was a democrat. Jackie redecorated the White House and was praised for it. Clinton sold the Lincoln bedroom over 900 times and made a fortune and took furniture that did not belong to him out of the White House. Just ignore these MSM hacks they are complicit in the Schumer shut down of the government. Of course the shut down is going badly for the democrats. We should’nt tell them about the construction going on at the White House but tell the people what is happening with the shutdown. How it hurts many citizens and the democrats don’t care. They want to keep high premiums for the Insurance companies and most of all to spent money we don’t have to keep the criminal illegals healthy. They don’t have a policy they have mandates.
DId we all think they wouldn’t have a melt down over this? What else were they to do to take attention away from the shut down and the ICE attacks? This is unreal that they would be covering this to the extent they are, and won’t cover any real news. it is beyond belief. But, it is the Democrats after all. Never thought they would be the cry babies of the world!!! To compare this to any other leader who has built a ballroom is stupid. And the White House is not being “destroyed” as they all wail is happening. And how dare Obama and H. Clinton say anything about any remodeling being done. Not only did Obama add a basketball court, Michelle had a huge garden on the grounds. Clinton’s took the furniture and silverware for God’s sake. They all need to not only get a brain, but get a life. All they do is sit around and think of what to complain and disc the President. I sure would hate to be one of these people, who all they can think about is Trump!!! They really need help.
to a democrat there are only 2 things wrong with PRESIDENT TRUMP :
Newscum would bitch if he were hanged with a new rope. He is such an a**hole. I live in CA and do not know of one single person that voted for that moron. He is in office by fraud….nephew of Nancy Pelosi so what else would you expect. The old bat needs to retire too.
The outrage is fake. This is what the Democrats have been doing for a long time: feign endless outrage over anything and everything Trump and the Republicans do or say so their friends in the media can keep nonsense in the headlines while the real issues are ignored. And why do the Democrats do this? Very simple: they will look like complete fools discussing any real issues because the Democrats have failed the nation and its citizens on every real issue there is. The last thing they want to do is discuss their failures and complete worthlessness.
I guess I don’t get all of the “hullabaloo” over the ballroom. So many previous Presidents have made changes to the Whitehouse using taxpayer money. But here is Trump using his own money and private donations. My wife, bless her, says it’s about the “optics”. With so much other stuff going on. I look at functions held at the Whitehouse where space was a problem, changes made by previous Presidents and NO TAXPAYER EXPENSE! But then, I am a simple, conservative, former Marine, truck driver. What do I know? Common sense ain’t so common anymore.
President DJT won the popular vote and all swing states. Like me, I don’t think those that helped him win in 2024 care what these hypocrites are spilling. Let ’em keep making a fool of themselves. It should help us in 2026. They still scream even though no tax payer $ are used.
What a bunch of nonsense and lies! There’s nothing wrong with Trump in what he does. He’s working very very hard to improve America, make it all safe again, and cleaning it all up. The democrats are jealous that they didn’t think about it first.
Left lunaticks aren’t accustomed to building anything, they’re used to peaceful protests (burning and destroying things).
If our president did nothing they would rant. Previous renovations and drastic changes at taxpayer expense never received this much attention. Let them rant!
They hated Trump since day 1
It is fun to watch President Trump carry out his agenda. We know he will do a spectacular job with this ballroom and now women visiting for events won’t have to walk in the mud during their visits. The whole addition will be beautiful and classy. There is no reason for anybody to be concerned as it’s a good idea.
Rats will be Rats. They don’t want construction. They only destroy what is good.
Nice article, Jarrett. Glad you included the aerial view model. It was helpful in judging the scale of reconstruction. I think the democrats should be called the No Nothing party.
The Democrats just want to complain about anything and everything. What happened to all the historical monuments they demanded to be REMOVED? Republicans had to say quiet about their demands.
I only hope that a big, beautiful fountain is included! Let if fill and flow with the tears of the Liberals and serve as a reminder of one of the greatest Presidents in our history!
This project is being funded by private donors, yet they want billions for tax-payer dollars to go to DEI crap in other nations. If those nations want drag queen story hour let their tax payers pay for it, not American tax payers. We already are forced to pay for that crap in America.
As I recall the leftists threw a fit when President Trump announced he was putting in two “huge” flag poles, at his own expense. I am pretty sure the first demoncrat resident of the White House, after the Trump era, will make full use of the ballroom. Or will they tear it down?
All this TDS makes me wonder what the President is doing behind closed doors. Typically, he gives the media and the leftists something trivial to throw a fit over so he can accomplish something of real importance without the leftists interfering. He is a master of misdirection.
THE ‘NEW’ DEMOCRANT CHANT FOR AMERICA-LOVING PATRIOTS TO ADOPT AND START CHEERING AT RALLIES.
GIVE ME A:
‘D’ (for DERANGMENT)
‘E’ (for ENEMY)
‘M’ (for MARXIST)
‘O’ (for OPPRESSOR)
‘C’ (for COMMUNIST)
‘R’ (for RADICAL)
‘A’ (for APPALLING)
‘T’ (for TREACHEROUS)
WHAT’S THAT SPELL DEMOCRAT…WHAT’S THAT SPELL…DEMOCRAT………….
WHAT’S THAT ALSO MEAN? DEMS ARE INSANE, LIARS, CORUUPT, AND PURE EVIL!!!!!
What do you suppose is the chance that the next democrat POTUS, or one in the not to distant future, will demolish this beautiful ballroom? I would say that the chances of that are very good, as the dems no doubt will not stand to have any permanent structure built by Trump attached to the White House.
One must have a severe case of TDS to oppose having the most powerful heads of state in the world entertained in a tent erected on the White House lawn as opposed to a world-class ballroom constructed at taxpayer cost free!
Just something else to throw at President Trump by the stupid democrats. Most every president has done some sort of “improvement” while in office and probably at taxpayer expense. Trumps project is privately funded. The media loves to spread lies.
As I recall even America’s darlings the Kennedys made some changes but you know the saying, “If Democrats didn’t have double standards they’d have no standards at all!”.
I love what the ballroom is going to look like! I think it’s great that it’s being done without taxpayers expense too! President Trump is amazing!
St Jude’s Children’s Hospital has an ad that basically says I bet we can get everyone to agree that no child should have to be so sick and spend so much time in a hospitals, and asks for donations. My first thought when seeing this was I bet that if Donald Trump was the spokesperson and said this same thing the democrats would not agree, only because they hate Donald Trump. They’d probably say the kids were sick because grasshoppers fart and that Trump caused it. How can anyone disagree with a needed upgrade that will not be done at the taxpayers’ expense. Trump’s doing this is a win-win for taxpayers, the country. I’m sure if Obama, Hilary, or Biden had done it, at the taxpayers’ expense, nothing would be said.
When will the mental health community classify this mental illness and start researching deprogramming help?
Some people would whine about a grain of sand.
Such a pathetic little TROLL.You should lose your hiding place under the bridge you crawled out from under, AND your citizenship. Iran and Hamas is recruiting people like you.
WHY? SHE HAS DONE HER JOB – GET RID OF SCUM (ILLEGALS, RAPISTS, GANGBANGERS, DRUG-PUSHERS, CHILD MOLESTERS, HUMAN TRAFFICKERS, AND OTHER LOWLIFE PARASITES.
ALL THE DISEASE YOU SUPPORT AND DEFEND. AND YOU HATE TRUMP AND HIS ADMINISTRATION BECAUSE THEY WANT TO DEPORT THESE BASTARDS.
NO TROLL.YOU NEED TO LOSE YOURS. GO SHACK UP WITH ROSIE O’DONNELL, THE TDS INSANE NUT JOB. OR GO BACK UNDER YOUR BRIDGE.
She’s already losing her looks lol
Time will make you eat those words like the lying Democratic scum you are!
I’m not a big Trump supporter after Jan 6th, I’m not a republican or democrat, I’m just you’re average American. I make my own decisions and have my own opinions. I don’t see anything wrong with this decision and support it. Personally I feel it’s long over due. I’m sure he’ll do it right and we’ll be proud of it.
I read a biography of Truman that discussed the renovation of the White House in 1945.. It was falling down rotten and would have collapsed had they not taken it totally apart to install steel joists, floors, roof etc., not to mention adding modern heating, cooling and electrical wiring. That existing building, reconstructed after the War of 1812 was over 130 years old. It needed this total redo. And subsequent remodeling has helped to keep it up to the standard of the greatest nation that we are. Don’t ask me to live in a house last remodeled in 1945.
The “Obama renovation” was APPROVED BY CONGRESS” during the Bush administration. Your bullshit excuse is comparing fixing a broken furnace to adding a swimming pool.
The addition does overwhelm the existing central structure of the Whitehouse in scale and is no longer a wing but rather primary focus.
The USA obviously suffers from “Dumba$$ocrat Derangement Syndrome….