There hasn’t been such vandalism at the White House since British troops burned it in 1814, but what President Trump’s wrecking ball did to the East Wing is only the beginning.

The cavernous ballroom he intends to build — spacious enough, he says, for 999 chosen people to drink, dine and dance — will be almost twice as large as the White House itself.

That’s more consequential than just poor taste. The original President’s House was meant to symbolize the modesty of a republic rather than the grandeur of a monarchial palace like Versailles. No previous alteration repudiated that. This one does.

The disproportion speaks volumes about the ego, megalomania, narcissism and arrogance of the man responsible for it.

A paved-over Rose Garden

Past presidents improved the building and grounds. This one started out by paving over Jacqueline Kennedy’s beautiful rose garden and giving the Oval Office the same gaudy gilding as Mar-a-Lago.

Just for argument’s sake, accept the idea that the White House needs a larger facility for state dinners. Even then, how this president has gone about it is another thumb in the eyes of the American people.

It is “the people’s house,” as many have called it. Presidents are entitled only to live there rent-free.

It’s a national treasure that holds a special place in the hearts of visitors as well as native Washingtonians like the one who told us, “It’s like my own personal home.”

A national shrine

It’s where crowds have gathered in times of national sorrow and triumph. To call it a shrine is not so far-fetched.

Trump didn’t ask Congress for the money, consult the National Capital Planning Commission or tip his hat to the National Historic Preservation Act, as other presidents have done despite the legal loopholes that are said to exempt that particular public property from normal oversight.

That something may be legal doesn’t necessarily make it right. A responsible president would have followed the rules voluntarily.

President Harry Truman did it right when the entire interior of the White House was in danger of collapsing and needed to be gutted and rebuilt. A leg of his daughter’s piano had fallen through the floor.

As the New York Times recalls, Truman “involved stakeholders far and wide.” He appointed a bipartisan oversight commission, sought and got money from Congress and got independent advice from experts on civil engineering and fine arts.

Pay-to-play culture

The ballroom boondoggle is already larger and more expensive than Trump first said.

He sidestepped Congress by squeezing $300 million or more out of private donors, but that only makes matters worse. It’s pay-to-play for powerful people and companies that have a vested interest in government regulation and Trump’s gratitude.

Among the 37 donors he identified last week:

Palantir Technologies, which is reportedly working with the administration to aggregate personal data on American citizens from the databases of various federal agencies.
Lockheed Martin, an aerospace and defense contractor.
Meta, Apple, Amazon, HP, Google, Microsoft, Comcast and T-Mobile, which have enormous vested interests in how the government regulates technology and administers the antitrust laws.
Coinbase, Ripple and Tether, crypto industry companies that could be competitors with World Liberty Financial, the astounding conflict of interest co-founded last year by Trump and his sons.
The Altria Group, owners of Philip Morris, the largest U.S. tobacco company.
NextEra Energy, parent company of Florida Power and Light.
Amazon, which has an enormous stake in Postal Service package rates.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and largest shareholder, is also in the government-dependent space business and owns the Washington Post, which editorially applauded Trump’s ballroom even as it dinged him slightly for “pursuing a reasonable idea in the most jarring manner possible.”

The Post editorial page rationalized that the ballroom would not have been built, “certainly not during his term,” if he had sought approval or permission. It acknowledged only in passing the “problematic conflicts of interest.”

“The White House cannot simply be a museum to the past,” it said. “Like America, it must evolve with the times to maintain its greatness. Strong leaders reject calcification.”

The Wasington Post Editorial Board couldn’t be more wrong.

The ballroom is unnecessary. The premise is that state dinners have outgrown the 140-seat state dining room and the 200-seat East Room and that tents on the lawn are an imperfect alternative. There’s mission creep for you.

President John F. and Jackie Kennedy, whose tastes were impeccable, were perfectly satisfied with guest-list limits for state dinners. That they don’t accommodate Trump’s imperial ego in no way justifies his gross, wanton desecration of a national treasure.

The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board includes Executive Editor Roger Simmons, Opinion Editor Krys Fluker and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant, Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney and editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman. Send letters to insight@orlandosentinel.com.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/04/a-national-treasure-bulldozed-by-trump-editorial/