White House's East Wing partially demolished as work begins on $250M ballroom (opens in new tab)

(theguardian.com)

59 pointsRed_Tarsius5mo ago23 comments

23 comments

Thank god they got rid of fraud, waste and/or abuse.

xnx5mo ago

And lowered the price of groceries

The GOP being mum about the razing (with zero outside review) of a building built during the administration of Teddy Roosevelt…to build a ballroom that only one man wishes for…is probably one of the more apropos events regarding our current affairs.

chromehearts5mo ago

Glad the average American's tax money is well spent on servicing the public good

nailer5mo ago

The source of funding is mentioned in the article.

Humorist22905mo ago

The president is quoted as saying

  The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly.

Whether that is credible, and whether there is an obligation of financial transparency, is apparently too politicized to dig deeper for The Guardian.

bryanlarsen5mo ago

Being paid for by bribes means it will cost the American populace even more than the $250 billion sticker price.

mcphage5mo ago

The source for the source of funding is also mentioned in the article.

defrost5mo ago

More accurately, the article quotes White House officials:

  Officials said it would be paid for by Trump and unnamed donors.

So far there's been 200+ days of statements by White House officials of the current administration to the press.

Some of those statements have had questionable accuracy, some have been undeniably at odds with reality.

almostgotcaught5mo ago

Apparently it's incredible that Biden wasn't a body-double his entire presidency but it's credible that "anonymous donors" are sponsoring a ballroom at the Whitehouse. I call this Schrodinger's presidency...

metalman5mo ago

they cut down 250 year old trees for this when there exist simple reliable methods to transplant very large old trees

I wonder if now there will be an accident™, and the whole place will burn down and then they have no choice but to build something "better".....

edit:....temporarily in florida

xtiansimon5mo ago

NPR Morning Edition today reported:

01:45 “The National Capital Planning Commission would typically have a role in approving a project like this. But the newly appointed chair of that commission. A top Trump appointee names Will Scharf (sp?) said in September the commission doesn’t have jurisdiction over demolition. […] And the commission is currently closed because of the government shutdown.”

https://www.npr.org/2025/10/22/nx-s1-5581433/parts-of-the-wh...

norome5mo ago

Kind of fitting as the presidency has been radically reshaped in so many other ways.

zippyman555mo ago

I was upset at the destruction in Gaza and then I realized the pictures were of the East Wing.

hermannj3145mo ago

You're telling me Trump is destroying the foundation of a centuries old institution to satisfy personal ego and fleeting desire? To be fair, that is the platform he ran on.

I am starting to lose trust in the safety of my tap water, but a ballroom would be a fun thing for a few hundred people to enjoy.

votepaunchy5mo ago

The East Wing is less than 100 years old. The White House is a living building in the same way that the Constitution a living document.

jaybrendansmith5mo ago

ok so only 100 years of precedent. Because really what did the US accomplish in the last 100 years?

1 more reply

chucksta5mo ago

The entire building was gutted in the 50s.

kjsingh5mo ago

Not to be confused with Demolition of Democracy

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse