White House East Wing will be torn down ‘within days’ even as no plans filed for Trump’s new ballroom
www.theguardian.com
Demolition has drawn fierce backlash, with National Trust for Historic Preservation saying plans are ‘legally required’

On Tuesday, the White House told Reuters it intended to send plans to the National Capital Planning Commission, an agency that typically approves and monitors construction on federal buildings. Demolition began earlier this week, with reporters taking video of a backhoe ripping out chunks of the White House’s exterior.

Plans for Trump’s 90,000 sq ft ballroom were made public in the late summer, with Trump saying he would personally fund the $200m construction. “Just another way to spend my money for this construction,” he said at the time.

White House officials insist demolition is allowed without the commission’s approval. Will Scharf, the Trump-appointed head of the commission, who is also a White House staff secretary, said in September there was a difference between demolition and rebuilding work, and only the commission can approve new construction.

But in a letter sent to the White House on Tuesday, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a leading historic preservation nonprofit created by Congress, told the White House that demolition plans were “legally required” to go through public review and urged Trump to pause demolition.

  • D_C@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    9·
    1 month ago

    The obese useless cunt is almost dead and he knows it. So he wants to be remembered, it doesn’t matter to him how he is remembered, as long as he is.

    And this is his way of being remembered. He knows that future democrat presidents (ha, if that ever happens again) won’t have the balls to rip this monstrosity down. And he knows that future republican presidents are going to be as corrupt as he is, so they won’t want to rip it down.

    Well done, americans, he is no longer just an embarrassing shitstain footnote in your history books.
    Nope, there’s literally going to be a gaudy, classless, cheaply adorned monument to him on the Whitehouse grounds for as long as there is a usa. How embarrassing.

  • humanspiral@lemmy.caEnglish
    2·
    1 month ago

    National Capital Planning Commission

    The $2.5B cost to renovated Federal Reserve building is partly due to this commission’s “preservation of historical character of the building”. This is definitely a cheaper way to do it, but easier to threaten any commission member doing their job, then wait for them to approve destruction.

    Expect final design to include his Mount Rushmore portrait on the roof. With a crown.

  • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    2 months ago

    Trump being Trump, and now with extra dementia, he’s probably changing the plans every 2 hours.

  • ceenote@lemmy.worldEnglish
    39·
    2 months ago

    I need to start a betting pool on how long it takes them to put up a huge temporary enclosure so people can’t see and take pictures of the demolition anymore.

  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
    19·
    2 months ago

    Plenty of people wake up every morning and say “Death to America”.

    But credit where credit is due. Donald Trump is actually living this shit.

    • Albbi@lemmy.caEnglish
      7·
      2 months ago

      Someone once told Trump that you can’t make gold paint and probably overcharged him a bunch on gold painted veneer. He said recently “… they’ve never found a paint that looks like gold.”