Bulwark Takes - People Sound Off on Trump’s Gilded White House Demolition

Episode Date: October 23, 2025

The Bulwark hit the streets of D.C. to ask what people think about Trump demolishing the east wing of the White House to build a $250 million gold ballroom.

Hey, everybody. It's me, Sam Stein, managing Ennerate to Bullwork. And listen, if you have been following the news, you probably have seen that our White House is under demolition. Donald Trump has decided to take down not just the facade of the East Wing, but as the New York Times has reported on Wednesday, the entirety of the East Wing. That's one part of the White House that is just going to be ripped down and replaced by a gilded ballroom. a grotesque, gilded ballroom that's going to cost an estimated $250 million, although I'll be surprised. Trump says he's going to contribute some of his money to it. It's mostly raising it from private donors, which raises all sorts of conflict of interest questions. But for us, the bulwark, that's just part of the issue. The other one is aesthetics. Is it worth it? Do we like this? I know how I feel. I know what Tim Miller feels. He enjoys it. He enjoys it. He likes the gold. Well, we're here committed to acts of journalism. So what we decided to do is we went down to the White House to ask people in and around that complex what they felt about the

renovations, what they might want to see with the renovations and what they think it was a good use of taxpayer money. What you're about to see, probably won't surprise you. So how do you feel about the construction that's happening on the east wing of the White House? Pretty bad about it. I think it's a joke. It is a travesty. It's a. It's a travesty. It's, not his house and no, he's taken down history and paving it and then gilding it in fake

golds. I just hope that we can repair some of the damage that he's going to leave behind. I think it's an outrage. You know, this is the people's house. I don't believe that there's been a process to consult with Congress who represent the American

people to get this approved. Not that Congress is doing much these days. Thank you. to the GOP, but still, I mean, there's a process for modifying historical buildings in Washington. I don't believe it's been followed, from what I understand. So, yeah, I think it's an outrage. I think it's pretty disgusting. There have been renovations of the White House before that have involved some changes to the facade,

but the timing of it is really quite incredible. in my mind. It's summoning like Marie Antoinette to mine. And I don't understand how it can be justified right now with the government shut down, with people worried about inflation, with people out, federal workers, out of work. And this is a vanity project. at the time he and his supporters are saying he's no king it's gilded i mean what he what more evidence could you have that maybe he isn't a king but he certainly aspires to that i'd stop by the white

house historical society so i could leave a comment and you know because clearly they weren't involved in the decision or if they were it was um not understood by many. So I'm very upset. I think that this is a very serious moment in our history and just another example of regime out of control. This is the people's house. And in order for there to be changes to the people's house, the people have to make these decisions. And he did not go through the proper reviews or anything else. I don't know that I object to the ballroom itself. But like anything, it should have been reviewed and looked over before he just started taking a backcoat of the thing and tearing it down. Why do you think he wants to do it? Because he's

a narcissist. You know, honestly, I don't know. I don't know and I don't care what his motivation is. I think it's not his house. He's a temporary resident. I think it shows a lack of understanding of his role as a preserver of our history and I'm upset by it. I think he's doing it so he can name a part of the White House after himself that's even bigger than the White House,

which will be. It will overshadow it in its dimensions. So destroying that part of the East Wing, I mean, it's not one of the more well-known parts of the White House that's fairly recent. It's built in the late 40s. It was offices, some ceremonial rooms, but still there's no process at all. I mean, he's acting as if it's his house and he can do whatever he damn well pleases. And the way he funds it, either with this private funding, which is basically people bribing him, giving him, you know, bribery money

so they can get what they want in order to fund his thing here is rather than going through Congress he brags that the people aren't funding it well the people should be funding it this is their house and we should fix it if it needs fixing and we should be a part of the decision to fix it

so you know if he wants to fix up the East Wing come to us and talk to about it you know let's do a remodeling job but not this the most cynical view is that he doesn't plan to leave and therefore he'll have this place that reflects who he is. But I really don't know why he thinks this. I've been in that building many, many times under other administrations,

and it's a beautiful, well-proportioned, well-designed structure that has integrity. I don't really understand why he is doing this other than his skill set he has is as a developer. So that's what he thinks is a contribution. But it is very, very disturbing. Donald Trump is a real estate developer, and this is his instinct. And so his instinct is to build things. And so, unfortunately, this is what you get when you vote in a real estate developer as president. Well, he has such an enormous ego that I think we'd like to, anything he builds you wants to put his name on.

And he thinks that'll last for his entire lifetime and afterwards. So that's why. You know, it's so hard to know what goes through Trump's mind. But I really do think he probably has fantasies of entertaining dignitaries in a gold leaf room that'll just blow their minds at the power and impressiveness of Trump. All I know about the plans is that initially, I think over the summer, he promised that there would be no damage to the facade. It'll be built over on the east side, and it will be beautiful. It'll be views of the Washington Monument. It won't interfere with the current building.

It won't be near it, but not touching it, and pays total respect to the existing building, which I'm the biggest fan of. It's my favorite place. I love it. Anybody who believes anything he says is I've got a bridge in Brooklyn. But I think probably we're going to see a lot of portraits of him. the family, it's just going to be ugly.