24 comments

  • disposition2 a day ago

    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.

  • blitzar 2 days ago

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

    • xnx 2 days ago

      And lowered the price of groceries

  • chromehearts 2 days ago

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

    • nailer 2 days ago

      The source of funding is mentioned in the article.

      • Humorist2290 2 days 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.
      • bryanlarsen 2 days ago

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

      • mcphage 2 days ago

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

      • defrost 2 days 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.

      • almostgotcaught 2 days 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...

  • xtiansimon a day 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...

  • metalman 2 days 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

  • norome 2 days ago

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

  • hermannj314 2 days 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.

    • votepaunchy 2 days 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.

      • 2 days ago
        [deleted]
      • jaybrendansmith 2 days ago

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

        • defrost 2 days ago

          Damn near bankrupted itself with tariff's that spawned a global depression, then Steven Bradbury'd itself to the head of the world order on the coat tails of the World War(s) cluster fuck?

          • jaybrendansmith a day ago

            I think you are missing a few things. Saved the world from fascism for one.

            • defrost a day ago

              Waited to the last minute to pick a side, after a few million Russians cut the Germans in half, you mean?

              Maybe "saved facism, on ICE, for the world, in order to bring it back later".

              Fun thing about history, so many varied perspectives from different PoV's.

              • jaybrendansmith 19 hours ago

                Here's hoping that doesn't happen, but the view from 3000 might look different.

    • chucksta 2 days ago

      The entire building was gutted in the 50s.

  • kjsingh 2 days ago

    Not to be confused with Demolition of Democracy

  • 2 days ago
    [deleted]