United States First Lady Melania Trump has triggered outrage over her attitude towards her husband Donald’s White House demolition.
Trump has demolished the White House’s East Wing, which has housed the first ladies’ offices for many years, to create space for a new presidential ballroom as part of his $300 million restoration project.
According to reports, such a project has temporarily stopped White House tours and moved a number of staff offices.
The renovations have had an impact on Melania’s team, since her employees have had to move to different parts of the White House, such as the South Mezzanine, the China Room, the Library, and the Vermeil Room.
However, it’s no secret that Melania has lived mostly in New York and Palm Beach during Trump’s second term, spending a large portion of it away from the Washington residence.
In contrast to her first term, when she actively participated in White House restoration efforts, she was not present or publicly involved in the contentious repairs.
These initiatives included renovating the Blue Room, launching a new tennis pavilion, and remodeling the Rose Garden.
“Watching the demolition is the physical embodiment of watching the first lady’s role become smaller and smaller,” Kate Andersen Brower, author of First Women, stated to CNN.
“She’s making it clear that – like her husband – she’s not going to be like any other first lady. … She doesn’t care about historic precedent, either.”
Meanwhile, former First Lady Hillary Clinton took to social media to criticise the demolition, writing on X last week (21 October): “It’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destr0ying it.”
Trump recently disclosed that the improvements will actually cost $300 million, a startling $100 million more than initially estimated, which only served to increase the backlash against them.
The White House released a “fact sheet” to the media in response to the criticism, echoing many of its innumerable earlier atta:cks on what it refers to as “unhinged leftists” and “Fake News.”
“In the latest instance of manufactured outrage, unhinged leftists and their Fake News allies are clutching their pearls over President Donald J. Trump’s visionary addition of a grand, privately funded ballroom to the White House – a bold, necessary addition that echoes the storied history of improvements and additions from commanders-in-chief to keep the executive residence as a beacon of American excellence,” it reads.
Trump is ‘carrying forward that legacy’, the announcement adds, citing past instances in US history where presidents have updated the White House.
The White House has undergone numerous restorations over the years, but none have been as comprehensive as Trump’s current endeavor, according to historian Ed Lengel of the White House Historical Association.
“There’s never been anything like that [Trump’s ballroom renovation] before. And I think I can say that with total confidence. There’s been nothing on that scale, even close to that scale, that has ever been done before,” the expert told The Hill.
