Featured Image Credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News, Money
Liv Bridge
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News, Money
Parts of the White House have already been demolished this week as reconstruction work starts under Donald Trump's orders.
In August this year, the White House announced the East Wing of the president's HQ would be 'modernized' as part of a grand makeover to make way for an ornate, 90,000 square foot ballroom.
The government said the new space would be capable of hosting up to 650 people at a time and will replace the existing East Room, which currently can hold around 200.
However, it's costing more than a pretty penny at around $250 million, some of which Trump said he would personally pay for.
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Despite concerns about the possible role of anonymous donors contributing towards the scheme, the project started on Monday (October 20) with construction workers wasting no time in tearing down parts of the wing.
Now, dozens say they are concerned by the initiative, especially considering Trump has already transformed most parts of the White House with his own, personal and extravagant touches of gold grandeur, like his '24 Karat Gold' Oval Office.
Early blueprints of the ballroom also show it will be rendered in Trump's apparent favorite color, from the chandeliers to the ceiling.
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Sharing the image of excavators at work, one said on Twitter: "Trump has no intention of going anywhere. He’s digging in."
A second chimed: "He’s building his King’s Golden Palace and planning to be forever King."
Others claim Trump is 'destroying' the historic building for a ballroom 'that nobody wanted', slamming it as a 'desecration' and an 'abomination'.
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"He is destroying the people's house," a third commented.
In justification for the rebuild, the White House said the lack of adequate hosting space had forced staff to set up a 'large and unsightly tent' outside.
The Trump administration also pointed out the POTUS isn't the first to have made changes to the building.
"For more than a century, US Presidents have been renovating, expanding, and modernizing the White House to meet the needs of the present day," it said in a press release on Tuesday (October 21).
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Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1902 and 1934 respectively, built and then remodelled the West Wing, with the latter adding a second floor, basement and a swimming pool while creating the East Wing and relocating the Oval Office to its current location.
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy gave the Rose Garden a revamp with repair works, a central lawn and French-style flower beds, which stood the test of time up until the Trump's moved in in 2020 and renovated it with a limestone walkway.
Then in August this year, Trump had a second crack at the garden, this time paving over the entirety of the lawn which critics say makes it look like a 'parking lot'.
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Still, he isn't the only one to have made dramatic changes in recent history, with President Barack Obama changing the ground's tennis court into a basketball court in 2009.
The White House also claims President Gerald Ford installed an outdoor swimming pool on the South Grounds in 1975 which was reportedly financed 'entirely by private donations'.
The news comes as fears have been growing over the potential implications of private donors contributing towards the scheme.
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Richard Painter, a former chief ethics lawyer, told the BBC that anonymous funders pose an 'ethics nightmare'.
"It's using access to the White House to raise money. I don't like it," he said. "These corporations all want something from the government."
YouTube is so far the only publicly known donor, having pledged $22m as part of a settlement with Trump over a lawsuit relating to the suspension of his account after the US Capitol riot in January 2021.