I came across a story published yesterday by the Washington Post. It’s about Trump’s push to continue construction on the ballroom/new East Wing of the White House. The news hook is that Trump posted a statement about the ballroom on Truth Social along with a new rendering of the project.
This beautiful building will be, when complete, the much anticipated White House Ballroom — The Greatest of its kind ever built! It is a rendering from the Treasury Building, directly across the street, and replaces the very small, dilapidated, and rebuilt many times, East Wing, with a magnificent New East Wing, consisting of a glorious Ballroom that has been asked for by Presidents for over 150 years. Being an identical height and scale, it is totally in keeping with our historic White House. This is the first rendering shown to the Public. If you notice, the North Wall is a replica of the North Facade of the White House, shown at the right hand side of the picture. This space will serve our Country well for, hopefully, Centuries into the future! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP
The Post article describes the tweet and then turns to the resistance to the new ballroom.
With historic preservationists saying they’re worried the 90,000-square-foot structure will overshadow the iconic main mansion, Leon and members of the two committees have asked whether the administration can reduce the building’s size…
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit charged by Congress with safeguarding historic buildings, sued the Trump administration in December, arguing it failed to conduct legally required reviews or obtain congressional approval for the project. The nonprofit has asked Leon to halt construction until those reviews are completed, contending that each day of work further entrenches the project.
The Justice Department has argued that Trump has broad authority to alter White House grounds. It also submitted testimony from an engineer working on the ballroom building who said the project could still accommodate substantial design changes. The National Trust countered with testimony from architect William Bates, a former president of the American Institute of Architects, who said in a sworn statement that underground infrastructure largely dictates what can be built above it.
Any belief that there is some genuine principle at stake is demolished the moment you dip into the comments on this article. The Post is laying off a third of its workforce today and if you’re wondering why, it’s because of audience capture from people like this:
He continues to behave like the dictator of a tin-pot republic, ableit one with absolutely no taste. He concentrates on buildings and his image while more and more Americans struggle to survive and his henchmen run amok on the streets killing and injuring anyone who dissents.
They’re all like this. Orange man bad!
A ballroom and an arch will be pretty meaningless if we no longer have a democracy. Keep watching the important stuff, folks.
Some people managed to miss the fact that this isn’t taxpayer funded, but it hardly matters why they hate it. There’s really only one reason.
Just another monument to his massive, dementia riddled ego. He can’t even walk in a straight line down a red carpet any more. How is he going to be able to dance? Another bigly huge waste of our tax dollars that should be going towards veterans or another worthy group.
Several commenters are already looking forward to tearing down a building that hasn’t been built yet.
As soon as we get the demented old man out of there, we shall tear it down.
Another one:
On day one of a democratic presidency they should tear this down and deposit the rubble on the front steps of Mar A Lago.
And another:
It can always be torn down… and it should be torn down… and it will be torn down… and hopefully Trump will still be in a cognitive state to see it torn down.
I’m sensing a theme.
When the next President tears down all of Trump’s “monuments” to himself…that’ll be good times.
A gratuitous shot at the First Lady.
The next President will need a commission to identify and remove all the tacky gold trinkets and design Trump put all over the White House. His taste in euro garbage women is really reflected in his decoration style.
These people want to destroy, not because it’s big but because Trump is building it.
I would be in favor of the new Democratic administration immediately tearing the Epstein Memorial Dance Hall down and replacing it with the original planned East Wing. I’m sure the blueprint still exists. And without the tacky gold everywhere.
Some are even daydreaming about the trials.
The columns on the front portico remind me of the entrance of the Supreme Court. This could make a very appropriate venue for the new Nuremberg trials
I came in like a wrecking ball!
Any presidential candidate who promises to return to the White House to its historic pre-Trump debasement will get my vote.
They could have the wrecking ball cranes and bulldozers standing back and standing by during the inauguration ceremony and the first order as new president would be the words, “Make America America Again” to which the head of the Army Corps of Engineers would reply, “Yes Sir!”
I could keep going but you get the idea. These are angry people dreaming about bulldozers and wrecking balls and most of all revenge and humiliation. Their hatred completely overwhelms their reason in most cases. The articles at this point are just an excuse to vent their rage. This is the Washington Post’s readership and it has been this way for a long time now.
As I said earlier today I think there are larger forces at work here which have eliminated many smaller papers while the NY Times continues to grow. But looking at the Washington Post in particular, a big part of the problem is audience capture. The audience they have been catering to for years are the people leaving these repetitive, boring comments on this ballroom story.
Jeff Bezos really has made an effort to change that. Many of the most extreme voices at the Post are gone and the editorials have completely changed direction. But that just enraged their progressive subscribers who can’t tolerate seeing anything other than orange man bad in the news.
Laying off a third of the staff might help balance the budget in the near term, but it won’t solve the Post’s real problem which is the intolerance of its leftist readership for any opinions to the right of AOC.
Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy Hot Air’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join Hot Air VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
