The East Wing of the White House is gone, and Melania Trump is not happy. The place where she once worked has been reduced to rubble as her husband pushes ahead with his plan for a grand new ballroom.
According to People magazine, Melania has been “privately sharing concerns about tearing down the East Wing” and has told those close to her that “this is not her project.” She clearly wants everyone to know she didn’t sign off on the destruction of history.
Her office has stayed silent, and the White House has refused to comment on her involvement. But sources say the former model is quietly frustrated. She worked in that wing for years and is said to be “disappointed” that her husband decided to flatten it without much notice.
The ballroom is expected to cost about $300 million. Trump insists he will pay for it “through donors and myself.” The design adds 90,000 square feet to the White House grounds, which might make it one of the largest dance floors in political history.
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The President has denied that the new addition will bear his name. “I don’t have any plan to call it after myself. That was fake news. Probably going to call it the presidential ballroom or something like that,” he told reporters over the weekend.
Trump’s obsession with this ballroom isn’t new. He’s been dreaming about it for years.
Back in 2010, when Barack Obama was president, Trump actually called Obama’s strategist, David Axelrod, to pitch his idea. Axelrod remembered it well. “He said, ‘You have these state dinners in sh***y little tents,’” Axelrod recalled. “He said, ‘I build ballrooms. I build the most beautiful ballrooms in the world. You can come to Florida and see for yourself.’”
Axelrod told him no. “We’re in the middle of a recession,” he said. But Trump has never been the type to let go of a shiny idea. Now, more than a decade later, he’s finally getting his ballroom, even if it comes at the cost of history.
Historic preservation groups have warned that removing the East Wing could “permanently disrupt the classical design of the White House.” But Trump brushed off those concerns, saying, “I’ve shown this to everybody that would listen. Third-rate reporters didn’t see it because they didn’t look.”
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
