White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt blamed the outrage over the demolition of part of the White House to construct President Donald Trump’s new ballroom.
Demolition of the East Wing began this week for Trump’s planned $250 million ballroom project, which is being privately funded. Some architecture groups have expressed concern over the quick pace of the demolition of the historic building, while some Democrats have pointed out that the process began during a government shutdown. There was also public outrage as pictures emerged of the demolition of the East Wing, which houses the First Lady’s offices, to make room for the ballroom.
“Are the Democrats jealous that Trump is building this big beautiful ballroom?” Fox News host Jesse Watters asked Leavitt Tuesday night on his show.
“It certainly appears that way, Jesse,” she began. “I believe there’s a lot of fake outrage right now because nearly every single president who has lived in this beautiful White House behind me has made modernizations and renovations of their own.”
“While many presidents have privately dreamt about this, it’s President Trump who is actually doing something about this. He’s the builder-in-chief,” Leavitt continued.
“He has done it his entire life, his entire career. Construction is a process. At the end, the East Wing, which is an entirely separate structure from the executive mansion you see behind me, will be more modern and beautiful than ever,” she said.
“And then on top of that, the White House is going to have a big beautiful ballroom for generations of Americans to come. And the best part of it all, it’s not a dime of the taxpayers’ money.”
The 90,000 square-foot ballroom is being funded by a group of wealthy donors, including the president, who has said he would personally contribute to the project.
Last week, Trump hosted a fundraiser at the White House — attended by representatives from Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Meta, Google, Amazon and Palantir Technologies — who Trump thanked for giving “tremendous amounts of money to see a ballroom built for the first time at the White House.”
Additionally, YouTube is giving $22 million to support the construction of the White House State Ballroom as part of a settlement with Trump over its decision to ban his account from the social media platform in the wake of the 2021 Capitol riot, according to court documents.
“I am pleased to announce that ground has been broken on the White House grounds to build the new, big, beautiful White House Ballroom. Completely separate from the White House itself, the East Wing is being fully modernized as part of this process, and will be more beautiful than ever when it is complete!” Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday.
While the president may be thrilled with the project, some Democrats have blasted the project as a “disgrace,” pointing out that Trump is spearheading a “billionaire ballroom” during a time of economic turbulence and a government shutdown.
“Trump’s billionaire ballroom. This is a disgrace. Welcome to the Second Gilded Age,” Florida Rep. Darren Soto wrote.
“During the War of 1812, British troops set the White House ablaze, destroying the historical building. Now, Trump, who fashions himself a king, is doing the dirty work himself, tearing apart the people’s house to build a gaudy Marie Antionette ballroom for the billionaires and CEOs to party while Americans are crushed by inflation and tariffs,” Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin tweeted.
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Illinois Senator and Democrat Tammy Duckworth mentioned the shutdown, which has continued well into the fourth week: “Nearly 2 million Illinoisans will see their SNAP benefits run out on November 1st— But Trump has no problem spending money to build his ballroom, bail out Argentina and buy Kristi Noem two private jets.”
Architecture groups have also raised concerns about whether the traditional process is being followed when it comes to changing such a historic building.
“While we recognize that the White House is a building with evolving needs, and that it has undergone various exterior and interior modifications since construction began in 1792, the proposed ballroom will be the first major change to its exterior appearance in the last 83 years,” the Society of Architectural Historians said in a statement last week. “Therefore, such a significant change to a historic building of this import should follow a rigorous and deliberate design and review process.”
The American Institute of Architects warned in August: “Although the ballroom project may have secured private funding, the White House is not a private building.” The group added: “Any modifications to it—especially modifications of this magnitude—should reflect the importance, scale, and symbolic weight of the White House itself.”
