A White House ballroom has been on President Trump’s wish list for years.
Now, he has demolished the East Wing of the White House to build one — a 90,000-square-foot, $300 million endeavor, which is the largest renovation to the White House in decades.
Mr. Trump initially pledged that the White House would not be touched by the construction of a new ballroom. But as heavy machinery bulldozed the East Wing, it became clear that one of the nation’s iconic buildings was getting a bigger makeover, with virtually no discussion.
Randy Dutton, a retired Navy commander and a Republican, was pleased with Mr. Trump’s efforts to remake the East Wing. It made sense on many levels, he said, because Mr. Trump and future presidents will now have more space to have receptions.
“Almost every president has wished to have more space for entertaining,” he said. “Guest lists for presidents and kings can get pretty big. Diplomatically, if you can get more people in there, you can enhance the prestige of the United States.”
Brian D. Kozlowski, who voted for Mr. Trump, said he was not especially interested in the White House demolition and construction.
“What is interesting,” he said, is the reaction from Mr. Trump’s critics, whom he called the “far left.”
“It doesn’t matter what the administration does,” he said. “Criticism is levied extra hard — and provided more media coverage — because it’s President Trump.”
Mr. Kozlowski acknowledged that the East Wing project was particularly extensive but said that many presidents, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, had redone parts of the White House and did not face the same level of scrutiny.
“Every president does it,” he said.
Such are the perils of taking for granted that the words coming out of Don's mouth, and no doubt reinforced on right wing media, bear a resemblance to the truth. They rarely do.
I've seen a defense of trump made along the lines of "What about that basketball court Obama built?"
AI Overview
During his presidency, Barack Obama added basketball hoops and lines to an existing tennis court at the White House, allowing it to be used for both sports. This conversion did not involve extensive construction or the destruction of the tennis court itself, as the court could still be used for tennis.
Comparable to tearing down the East wing and constructing a 90,000 sq. ft. ballroom? You make the call.
“Almost every president has wished to have more space for entertaining,”
“Every president does it,”
Belief in those falsehoods helps explain why Americans find ourselves at odds with each other over so many things. Every prez does not desecrate the White House. Approval has been sought even for minor renovations. I know of no prez who launched a major renovation while previously lying about its impact on the existing structure. There is no evidence I've seen showing previous prez's were in favor of constructing a larger entertainment venue close to the scale of the one being built.
In reading the remarks by Repubs about the ballroom you don't have to use much imagination to understand how they frequently come to conclusions based on misinformation.
