President Donald Trump garnered a wave of social media shaming after video emerged of him walking along the roof of the West Wing and examining the White House grounds from above as he plans construction on a new $200 million ballroom off the East Wing.
CBS News Reporter Jennifer Jacobs was among reporters catching Trump as he toured the grounds from above, accompanied by architect James McCrery.
"Extremely rare sight: a president taking questions from reporters from the roof of the West Wing," Jacobs reported. "Trump was up there to assess the White House grounds as he plans new construction"
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"'Taking a little walk,' he told reporters," she continued. "He was making plans for something that he said 'goes with the ballroom which is on the other side.' He jokingly answered one question about what he wants to build: 'Nuclear missiles.'"
“‘Just another way to spend my money for the country,' he told us,” Jacobs wrote on X, describing the president's shouted answers to the press as a "gaggle."
The Hill reports the president is claiming the construction of the ballroom “will be covered by Trump and other donors,” but critics said on X that Trump has provided no proof that he is using his personal money to finance the construction.
“… there is no evidence the President is using personal funds to pay for this project,” said one commenter.
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Trump also told reporters: "Anything I do is financed by me so it's contributed — just like my salary is contributed, but nobody ever talks about that."
But other critics questioned the purpose of the construction. “Trump’s not building for the country; he’s building for the cameras,” said one. “Ballrooms don’t solve inflation. Chandeliers don’t lower healthcare bills.”
Common Dreams writer Jessee MacKinnon called the plan a “spectacle, financed by national rot.”
“The timing is not subtle. It arrives alongside his ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill,’ a federal budget that slashes Medicaid, food stamps, public housing, and climate programs, all while inflating the national deficit past $40 trillion,” wrote MacKinnon. “… We are not witnessing innovation. We are watching reruns of Versailles.”
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Last week, ‘Table for Five’ host Abby Phillip called the project inconsistent with the Trump administration’s alleged position on government inefficiency.
“They're currently … cutting [the budget] in the big, beautiful bill and Medicaid … and then they're saying, on the other hand, ‘let's renovate the Oval Office, let's renovate the East Room, let's renovate the Rose Garden.' I mean, it's hard to understand,” Phillip said.
Online critics remained skeptical that taxpayers aren’t somehow footing the bill.
“This man’s wealth has doubled since taking office in 2017. The self-dealing is ceaseless,” one critic wrote.
"Me describing a snowman in a game of charades," posted CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski alongside a video of Trump gesticulating with his hands.
Me describing a snowman in a game of charades pic.twitter.com/IjmzxkeMJz
— Andrew Kaczynski (@KFILE) August 5, 2025
Watch the videos here or at this link.
Trump was on roof of West Wing to examine the White House grounds from above as he plans construction related to new ballroom off East Wing. "Just another way to spend my money for the country," he told us. pic.twitter.com/Munni58CWU
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) August 5, 2025