Letter to the editor: Ballroom blitz

First published in the Brunswick Beacon, 11.20.25

The White House belongs to the American people. That’s why it’s called “The People’s House.” In his 1981 Christmas Address, President Reagan said, “This fine, old home — the people’s house — has seen so much, been so much a part of all our lives and history.” First Lady Nancy Reagan said, “The White House belongs to all Americans. It’s supposed to be something we’re proud of.”

When Trump unveiled plans for his virtual copy of Russia’s Winter Palace ballroom in St. Petersburg, he promised, “It won’t interfere with the current building. It will be near it, but not touching it.”

That’s why Americans watched with horror as Trump reduced the East Wing of the White House to rubble so he could build his vanity project: a $300 million, 90,000-square-foot gilded ballroom nearly twice the size of the White House itself. Presidential historian David Brinkley spoke for many Americans when he called it, “painful, almost like slashing a Rembrandt painting. Or defacing a Michelangelo sculpture.”

Trump launched his Ballroom Blitz during a government shutdown without approval from the National Capital Planning Commission, which has jurisdiction over major renovations to Washington, D.C.’s government buildings.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation urged Trump to stop, because public review of the demolition was “legally required” and the proposed ballroom “will overwhelm the White House itself.” Trump, who said he has the “right to do whatever I want as President,” ignored them.

Trump defaced the Rose Garden by removing flowering trees that Jackie Kennedy planted and paving over its lawn. He defiled the White House interior, slathering it with hideous gilded medallions nearly identical to the cheap “Foam Veneer Accessories” sold on Chinese e-commerce site Ali Baba.

President Truman said, “No President has been anything else but a temporary tenant. That will continue, I hope, as long as our Republic lasts.” Demolishing, defacing and defiling The People’s House, Trump truly is the tenant from hell.

Rich Cooper

Leland