A demolition crew takes apart the facade of the East Wing of the White House, where U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed ballroom is being built, in Washington, D.C., October 21, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
President Donald Trump has already bulldozed the East Wing of the White House, but replacing it with his ballroom may not be in the cards, one columnist said.
Writing for Salon, Amanda Marcotte explained that when the president has a short attention span, a building project of the scale necessary may not be possible.
It has now been two months, and the architectural firm initially hired has been let go, and another firm has been brought in.
"It increasingly seems that such discussion was a wasted effort, as the chance this ballroom will actually be built is rapidly disappearing," said Marcotte. "Perhaps it could have if Trump had delegated the management of the project to someone competent, but that’s not what he did. Instead, the famously lazy and disorganized president decided to blow off his actual governance duties in favor of micromanaging a construction project he is incapable of handling."
She noted that constructing a historic building and finishing it on his timeline would be a stretch for even the most experienced builder. For the "famed real estate tycoon," it will likely be impossible.
After only a few months of working on the project, it has now become emblematic "of Trump’s second administration: They are very good at breaking things, but they don’t know how to create anything of value," wrote Marcotte.
The Washington Post published a report Tuesday revealing no one appears to know what’s happening with the project. Marcotte pointed out that they haven't even agreed on where the building will sit and how many people it can hold.
The Trump administration faces a deadline: a judge ruled this week that Trump must "avoid building anything foundational and demanded plans for the structure be submitted by the end of the year," according to Marcotte.
Then, on Thursday, the Washington Post revealed that Trump's attention had pivoted to taking over three D.C. golf clubs. There is also the matter of changing the Kennedy Center's name to include his own. That will require new signs and likely more gold.
"The White House hasn't even scheduled meetings with the National Capital Planning Commission" to begin crafting the documents that the judge requested. Marcotte believes this means meeting the judge's deadline is unlikely.
Meanwhile, the cost of the structure keeps ballooning.
Over the summer, Trump claimed the project would cost about $200 million and that he would personally pay for it. The price tag now exceeds $400 million, and corporate sponsors and donors are paying for it.
Marcotte noted that despite his "fame" as a builder, the president hasn't actually built anything in a very long time. He's done renovations and put his name on them, but the last time he oversaw a construction project was about 20 years ago, when he was nearly 60.
"The 79-year-old president has lost whatever limited capacity he may have once possessed to make good on stated goals — or at least those that involve building or creating, instead of simply blowing things up," Marcotte mocked.
Another barrier to Trump's efforts, she wrote, is that his "existential yearnings are no match for his inherent laziness."
"This attempt by Trump to leave his mark is destined for the trash heap, probably before 3 p.m. on Jan. 20, 2029. He’s restarted weak efforts to pretend he’ll just take an illegal third term, but his apparent poor health and exhaustion leaves most wondering if he’ll be able to make it through the second," Marcotte wrote.
Ultimately, Trump seems to have realized that even his own voters "can’t wait to start forgetting Trump ever existed," Marcotte continued. His ongoing efforts to leave his physical mark around Washington "will fail."
"Trump will be felled by the worthlessness he’s spent a lifetime trying to conceal with cheap parlor tricks, because he’s incapable of making a true, lasting contribution," she closed.