The second Donald Trump presidency is horrifyingly damaging, a bunch of end-times fanatics ripping the wire out of the partitions, however have you ever thought-about that it’s also persistently frivolous? Take for example his $200 million ballroom addition to the White Home, which he unveiled plans for on Thursday.
In the event you had been questioning if this proposed addition will probably be a gilded palace as ugly as one in every of his properties or as his ongoing gold-plating of the Oval Workplace, the reply is sure: “Renderings provided by the White House depict a vast space with gold and crystal chandeliers, gilded Corinthian columns, a coffered ceiling with gold inlays, gold floor lamps and a checkered marble floor,” says CNN.
Even the rendering offered by the White Home screams super-sized Mar-a-Lago ballroom, which is most undoubtedly not a praise.
An American flag flies in entrance of the White Home on July 23.
Trump actually does see himself as a grasp developer, a really particular boy as a result of he—and he alone—can construct a ballroom.
“They’ve wanted a ballroom at the White House for more than 150 years, but there’s never been a president that was good at ballrooms,” Trump mentioned on Thursday. “I’m good at building things and we’re going to build quickly and on time. It’ll be beautiful, top, top of the line.”
Actually, that’s what the previous occupants of the White Home have yearned for, an ever-deferred dream that solely Trump might fulfill.
Trump retains saying that the $200 million value will probably be borne by himself and personal donors, and that it is going to be his “gift to the country.” The notion that exterior donors can pay for this garish factor is meant to sound higher than taxpayer {dollars} being spent on it, however all it actually highlights is that is simply one other method to bribe the president.
Certainly, Trump has created many alternatives for donors to line his pockets within the hopes of receiving favorable therapy. You could possibly purchase his silly memecoin, which could’ve gotten you invited to a dinner with him. In the event you’re a media firm, you possibly can conform to settle a frivolous lawsuit filed by Trump in his private capability, and donate hundreds of thousands to his future presidential library.
After all, the chance to make a teeny, little seven-figure donation to Trump’s inauguration fund in an effort to probably keep away from regulatory oversight has come and gone, so why not work out a manner to assist “donate” to construct America’s Ugliest Ballroom?
President Donald Trump speaks within the Roosevelt Room of the White Home on July 30.
The very fact that is even prime of thoughts proper now’s ridiculous. Trump has been busy tearing the federal government all the way down to the studs for months, however now he needs everybody to deal with his alleged means to create magnificence, to remodel an area. He doesn’t have that means, actually or figuratively. What he’s demanding is a hagiography, a rewriting of historical past that, as prize-winning reporter Jonathan Capehart put it on Thursday, is a funhouse mirror, a pretense at patriotism that’s fairly the other.
“Unapologetic patriotism is incomplete if it doesn’t allow for a mirror to be held up to America, her people, and her president—to hold them all accountable when they have strayed from her founding principles,” Capehart mentioned.
The need to gold-plate the White Home, to use up time on constructing initiatives and the like, highlights how un-serious Trump is. Sure, he’s deeply severe about utilizing the federal government to destroy every thing he hates, however he’s received individuals for that now—an entire Cupboard full. However he can’t assist however fixate on imposing his cheesy stamp on the nation and forcing us to stare.
It’s the identical impulse behind the birthday navy parade and apparently pressuring the Smithsonian to take away references to his two impeachments. His want for adulation—and gold leaf, apparently—is bottomless.
