Donald Trump says his tacky White House renovations are the only way to save the historic structure from ruin.
“The White House was in very bad condition, both inside and out,” the president, 80, posted on Truth Social on Sunday evening about the state of the building before he retook office last year. “Frankly, it was a ‘dump!’ he said. ”More time without renovation would have destroyed our beloved White House,” he added, insisting that he oversees the work “during my spare time, which is not much.”
Trump appears to be spending more than his “spare time” thinking about his Washington, D.C., vanity projects. During public appearances between January and July, he spoke more often about those renovations and other D.C. construction projects than he spoke about foreign policy, the economy, immigration, elections, Democrats—or even himself, according to an analysis by PolitiFact.
The topic came up in more than a quarter of all his public speeches during that period, and in almost half from May through July. The tally doesn’t include Truth Social posts or print interviews, meaning the total is actually higher. The numbers also show that renovations and construction projects are his top interest when he chooses what to talk about, rather than responding to reporters’ questions.
The president’s claim that he’s working on the White House revamp in his “spare time” also jars with what he’s previously said about his role on those projects. “I spent a lot of time there with contractors,” he said during a December speech at the Kennedy Center. “I have two jobs. I have a construction job, which is really like relaxation for me because I have been doing this all my life.”
Trump’s alterations at the White House have included paving over the historic Rose Garden and demolishing the East Wing to make room for a new $600 million ballroom. He has also ordered a new helipad for the South Lawn, installed gilded new furnishings in the Oval Office, and talked up the possible addition of an “Upper West Wing.” His Sunday Truth Social post came after he removed drapes and scaffolding from around the North Portico, which he has touched up ahead of a visit from Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this month.
Other projects across the capital include a 250ft “triumphal arch” scheduled for construction near Arlington Memorial Cemetery, a proposed National Garden of American Heroes, redevelopment of public golf facilities at East Potomac Park, and a botched “American flag blue” refurbishment of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Trump’s enthusiasm for these initiatives isn’t as widely shared as he appears to think. An Ipsos poll found in July that 65 percent of voters disapprove of his D.C. construction efforts, while 42 percent said millions have been spent solely for Trump “to glorify himself” ahead of midterm elections where cost-of-living concerns have handed Democrats an almost 8-point lead.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on this story.
