President Donald Trump may have launched a war with Iran over the weekend, but his mind rapidly wandered to other topics on Monday: his ballroom, First Lady Melania’s complaints and picking out the drapes.
The president, 79, gave his first public update on attacking Iran on Monday at the start of a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House. But he rapidly jumped to other topics after indicating the attack on Iran could go for five weeks or “far longer.”
Trump was thanking Americans serving in harm’s way when he suddenly became distracted and started talking about the White House.
“We have a lot of great service members here with us, too, in this beautiful building,” Trump told the group seated in the East Room. “Isn’t it beautiful? We’re adding on to the building a little bit.”
The president went on to riff about the construction of the new ballroom taking place outside, while crowing about picking out the drapes and accusing the first lady of complaining about noise.
“When you hear all the hammering out there, you know why the first lady is not thrilled exactly,” Trump rambled. “She said, ‘Will the pile drivers ever stop?’ You know they go from six in the morning until 11:30 in the evening. Can you imagine?”
The president described it as “the most beautiful sound,” which he loved, but noted first lady doesn’t like it.
“It’ll be under budget, ahead of schedule. It’ll be $400 million or less. Most people say $400 million or more. No, it’ll be less,” Trump claimed of the ballroom.
Attendees at the ceremony could hear construction underway outside, where the East Wing of the White House once stood, as the event got underway.
“When I hear that sound, that beautiful sound behind me, it means money, so I like it, but my wife isn’t thrilled,” Trump shared. “She said, ‘This is getting crazy.’ I said, ‘Don’t worry about it. We’ll be all finished up in a few months.”
During his meandering comments, the president also fixated on the drapes covering the entrance to the ballroom.
“See that nice drape. When that comes down, right now you see a very, very deep hole, but in about a year and a half from now, you’re going to see a very, very beautiful building, and there’s your entrance to it right there,” Trump said, gesturing to his right. “It looks so nice, I think I’ll save money on the doors.”
He bragged about how he picked the drapes during his first term and rambled about how he “always liked gold, but I think we can save a lot of money.”
“I just saved curtains,” Trump commented before insisting the ballroom would be “spectacular.”
“I built many a ballroom. I believe it’s going to be the most beautiful ballroom anywhere in the world,” he said.
After a few minutes, the president eventually got back on track as if remembering why he was appearing at the somber White House event: to honor three heroic American service members, including one killed in action.
