Well, maybe not free from costs, but free to the taxpayer. As part of his expanding legacy, President Trump has embarked on a series of improvements to the White House, and its grounds, intended to make it grander and more practical, while cementing his place in the executive mansion’s storied history.
“He has a vision to make the White House as exceptional and beautiful as possible for future presidents and administrations,” a White House official said. “He is very hands-on and involved in all of this.”
Among those changes already in process, two towering flag poles with American flags, and paving over a grassy patch of the Rose Garden to allow for outdoor events not impeded by soggy wet grass, which Trump correctly noted poses problems for women in high heels walking through the garden.
Trump is also replacing what he described as a “terribly” remodeled bathroom in the Lincoln Bedroom with one that is truer to the style of the 16th president’s era.
But now the president has announced his biggest White House project, and the most significant change since Harry Truman’s desperately needed renovations that created the West Wing and added the Truman Balcony.
With the stately house partly crumbling around him, President Truman carried out a complete gutting of the White House interior from 1948 to 1952 to shore up the structure with steel beams and concrete.
Trump’s planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom will do as much, or more, partially replacing the East Wing edifice traditionally used for the first lady’s offices. Just how much the East Wing of the White House will change is unclear.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the ballroom would be built where the “East Wing currently sits.” When asked whether the project required tearing down that section of the White House for the new ballroom, she said the East Wing would be “modernized.”
According to images released by the White House, the planned ballroom would appear to resemble one of the rooms in Mar-a-Lago. One image showed a large airy open ballroom lined with golden chandeliers and golden chairs surrounding dozens of tables.
Trump said he was focused on maintaining the integrity and tradition of the White House.
“The White House ballroom will be substantially separated from the main building of the White House, but at the same time its theme and architectural heritage will be almost identical,” Leavitt said.
The new, ornate 650-person ballroom will avoid the need to shuttle guests to tents pitched on the South Lawn for events that are too large for the White House to accommodate.
“When it rains or snows, it’s a disaster,” the president said, lamenting that tents are positioned “a football field away from the White House.”
Trump estimates that taking down part of the East Wing and putting the ballroom in place would cost about $200 million. The East Wing was completed in 1942 under Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, noted that Congress has not appropriated funding for the ballroom, saying: “Listen, I’m happy to eat my cheeseburger at my desk. I don’t need a $200 million ballroom to eat it in. OK?”
But Schumer can eat his burgers wherever he likes, because Trump is using private funds, including his own, to complete this major White House improvement. Trump and other “patriot donors” will foot the bill for the project, the White House said.
Still, critics also have taken aim at this approach.
As The New York Times reported:
Now the president is pursuing renovations that could provide an opening for donors aiming to gain favor with the White House, according to ethics experts.
“People who want to be in good with the president are going to write checks,” said Richard W. Painter, who served as the chief ethics lawyer in the White House Counsel’s Office under President George W. Bush.
Despite the critics, the proof will be in the results.
The Times notes:
In his six months in office, Mr. Trump has sought to reshape institutions in his image through sweeping policy changes, upending the federal bureaucracy and leaving his stamp on the private sector and the arts. But the president, a onetime real estate developer, is also hoping to cement his legacy by leaving his imprint on the structure of the White House.
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& we dont pay for the build up