The construction of a new White House ballroom is "classic" Donald Trump: "Pursuing a reasonable idea in the most jarring manner possible," according to The Washington Post.
The teardown of the East Wing this week has become a political Rorschach test that reveals information about a person's personality traits, emotional functioning, and thought processes, the Post editorial board wrote Saturday.
As the editorial board noted, critics see the rubble as a metaphor for President Trump's disregard for norms and history.
Supporters, however, view it as the bold act of a builder-president finally addressing a long-overdue need: a permanent space worthy of America's diplomatic and ceremonial occasions.
Trump's 90,000-square-foot expansion, centered around a 999-seat ballroom, would eliminate the need for temporary tents on the South Lawn — a logistical nightmare for state dinners that Post editors admit has long been an embarrassment.
"The next Democratic president will be happy to have this," the paper conceded.
Privately, even alumni of the Biden and Obama White Houses have acknowledged the necessity of such a space. The State Dining Room seats only 140, the East Room 200.
"It is absurd that VIPs are forced to use porta-potties," the Post noted.
Still, preservationists are incensed that Trump sidestepped the usual bureaucratic reviews.
The Post argued it's likely the only reason the project is happening at all is that traditional review boards would have buried it "by a thousand papercuts."
The White House is exempt from some federal regulations, and the Post noted that "it has become far too difficult to build anything in America," pointing to yearslong delays for even modest federal projects like the Eisenhower Memorial.
Former White House Usher Christopher Emery, writing in a Newsmax opinion column, called the ballroom a long-overdue modernization.
Having managed state events during the Reagan, Bush and Clinton administrations, Emery said the lack of a permanent event facility "compromises the White House's otherwise impeccable standards."
He likened the backlash to criticism of the Truman Balcony in the 1940s — now considered an iconic feature.
"History shows that modernization at the White House has rarely been welcomed at first — and always appreciated later," Emery wrote, adding that the privately funded project would preserve taxpayer dollars while enhancing presidential diplomacy.
Not everyone is convinced.
CBS News on Thursday reported that House Democrats are questioning the project.
California Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, along with Democrat Reps. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona and Jared Huffman of California, wrote Trump to express concern about "transparency, funding priorities, the physical integrity of the White House, and the ethical integrity of the administration it houses."
Garcia said the demolition "amounts to Donald Trump doing what he wants while the government is shut down."
Trump, however, insists there's nothing hidden.
"I've shown this to everybody that would listen," he told reporters, holding up renderings of the grand gold-and-glass ballroom. "We've been more transparent than anybody's ever been."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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