President Donald Trump announced last year that he was demolishing the East Wing of the White House to build his massive ballroom structure that will hold about 1,000 guests for large events. Until recently, Trump was raising private funds to ensure no taxpayer dollars were spent to create the party room. That changed on Monday night, when Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced that the Republican budget will allocate $1 billion for the project, which was originally supposed to cost $200 million.
Daniel Pfeiffer, former senior advisor to President Barack Obama, wrote on Tuesday, "Trump’s obsession with his ballroom is bizarre. Given all the problems in the world and Trump’s political challenges at home, taking every opportunity possible to wax about a home renovation project is an odd choice, to say the least. Trump’s ballroom fixation also helps explain why his approval is at an all-time low and continuing to sink."
He noted that it's "emblematic" of all of Trump's problems in that it is a solution that Americans don't want or need.
Last week, a Washington Post poll showed that even Republican voters oppose Trump's ballroom, with only 28 percent of Americans supporting it and 56 percent opposing, cited Pfeiffer.
The top issues Americans care about is the affordability crisis. Costs are soaring on housing, healthcare, fuel, food and utilities, while wages aren't keeping pace.
"Trump’s ballroom can symbolize his focus on himself at the expense of everyone else. Building a massive, corporate-funded ballroom to host fancy parties — while Americans are paying $4 a gallon for gas, and while groceries, healthcare, and housing prices keep rising — is some real fiddling while Rome burns," wrote Pfeiffer.
The Bulwark's Sam Stein wrote on X, "The Ballroom was pitched as a project that would not cost taxpayer money. Now, Senate Judiciary Republicans are requesting $1 billion for security features related to it (how much of that $1 billion on the ballroom, it doesn't say)."
He linked to Grassley's budget, highlighting the available funding, saying that the funds couldn't be used for anything other than security features such as bulletproof windows, bulletproof walls or a drone-proof roof. It would not fund million-dollar chandeliers or pounds of 24-carat gold-leaf embellishments. While the price of the ballroom had ballooned to $400 million, those security features were already built into the cost. As Stein noted, the $600 million in overage costs aren't explained.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) agreed that it doesn't make sense for the taxpayers to foot the bill. She commented on X, "The American people are weathering $5 gas, $6 diesel, and skyrocketing fertilizer costs because of the war of choice in Iran, and now the GOP want you to pay $1 Billion for a ballroom. Somebody help make this make sense."
Other activists pointed out that it's an example of "waste, fraud and abuse in the Trump administration."
Pfeiffer closed his piece by calling the whole issue a "layup for Democrats, because we don’t even have to work that hard to highlight the ballroom" in the midterm elections.
