Donald Trump wants to crush The Swamp. The leaks, the sneaks, and the secrets are all there. Our writers, David Gardner, Farrah Tomazin, and Sarah Ewall-Wice, are sifting through the ooze so you don’t have to. Don’t miss out.
In this week’s news from the ooze: Miriam and Sheldon Adelson, Will Scharf, Alan Dershowitz, Melania Trump, Tucker Carlson, Lance Gooden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Thomas Massie, Jesse Watters, Marco Rubio, Stuart Levenbach, Pete Hegseth, Muriel Bowser, James Comer, Tulsi Gabbard, Mark Milley, and JD Vance.
The People’s Verdict on the President’s Ballroom
Donald Trump famously loves gold, and he can’t help bragging about the construction of his billionaire’s ballroom that is keeping Melania awake on the very rare night she spends at the White House.
But the president’s home is also the People’s House—and the people don’t like Trump’s plan to turn it into Dance-a-Lago.
As much as the president likes to claim he is receiving compliments on his decision to bulldoze the East Wing, the public comments submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission are overwhelmingly negative.
The Swamp has seen more than 9,000 pages, with over 32,000 comments that will be presented at a public planning meeting on Thursday at the Commission’s D.C. headquarters, with people invited to attend on Zoom. The great majority of people wrote opposing the ballroom, and many are demanding that the work be stopped and the East Wing rebuilt.
Here is just a taste of the huge public response, thought to be the biggest ever in response to a planning project.
“DO NOT BUILD THIS god AWFUL MONSTERS RIDICULOUS BALLROOM!” said one, copying Trump’s Truth Social style.
“NO GAUDY FAKE GOLD STUFF ALL OVER THE PLACE,” wrote another.
And another: “DO NOT ALLOW DONALD J TRUMP OR ANY OTHER FOOL REMODEL,CHANGE, DESTROY REARRANGE, WHATEVER VERBAGE THERE IS TO DESTROY THE “PEOPLES HOUSE” IT IS NOT HIS! THIS SHOULDN’T EVEN BE A TOPIC,OR DISCUSSION BUT THE CRAZY FOOL IS AT THE WHEEL.
THIS IS HISTORY! LEAVE IT ALONE!! THANK YOU”
Others were more considered. “I am 77 years old and have had a deeply held admiration of everything historical in D.C. since childhood,” wrote a worried grandmother. “My grandparents took me my first time when I was in 5th grade, and I toured the Whitehouse. I feel this building, like most the landmarks are sacrosanct historical treasures. The wanton way the East Wing has been destroyed is an unconscionable affront to our history, our tax dollars and our sense of continuity. Please do what you can to restore this building to its previous beauty and stop any future desecration without oversight.”
There were many more along these lines: “Stop him now before he destroys more of our historic buildings. Require him to restore the East Wing.”
“PLEASE don’t let Donald Trump build that ugly ballroom and further destroy the White House! That’s THE PEOPLE’S house and we don’t want it despoiled. It’s terrible that he paved the Rose Garden. We don’t want his tackiness to ruin things!!!!”
“The whole project is a debacle and a national ( an internal) embarrassment. Please do everything in your power to keep it small and simple.”
“The size and design of the proposed White House Ballroom are hideous. I object to the decision to ruin the American public’s historical legacy.”
“It’s a disgusting display of ego.”
“PLEASE don’t let him get away with him building this addition, gold plated monstrosity as it will be a replica of his “gold plated lifestyle” which is disgusting.”
“Perhaps the “Trump friends” donations for the gilded ballroom, should be used to rebuild the East Wing!! It is shocking and disgusting for a president to unilaterally undertake such a demolition.”
“The east wing needs to be rebuilt and restored to its former glory. I would also like to see something done about putting a rose garden in place to restore Jackie Kennedy’s destroyed garden in some manner. Trump needs to pay the bill out of his own pocket. He has certainly grifted enough money while in the White House . Trump is making the inside of the White House look gaudy and cheap with all of his gold.”
“Such brazen disrespect should be punished, not rewarded. I demand restitution and restoration of OUR HOUSE.”
“The White House is not merely a residence—it is a symbol of our nation’s continuity, democratic values,and shared history. Altering it for the purpose of creating a gaudy, personalized palace for a would‑be oligarch or dictator undermines the integrity of the office and disrespects the generations of Americans who look to this building as a representation of our republic.”
“Too large, gauche, Russian-like, out of proportion to our beautiful historic White House.”
“I am totally disgusted with the administration plan to build a ballroom to replace the Eastwing of the White House. We don’t need another ugly display of tone deaf actions by this president.”
“I hate what Trump is doing to our beautiful historical White House. He is desicrating it’s beauty and history. Please stop this insanity.”
“I would like to express my dismay at the roughshod (illegal?) manner in which this project got started, the overpowering, obnoxious size of the proposed rebuild, and the gaudiness of the design which is not at all in keeping with the style of the White House - the people’s house. Please have the project leaders follow the rules as to how such things are done. The photos of the destruction tear at my heart…”
The Swamp fears the respondents will be disappointed. The 12-person commission is led by Chairman Will Scharf, the White House staff secretary and the gofer who delivers Trump’s Executive Orders to the Oval Office for signature. The rest of the commission is made up of two presidential appointees, U.S. Chief Statistician Stuart Levenbach, representing Maryland, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Michael Blair, representing Virginia, and Cabinet members, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, as well as General Services Administrator Ed Forst, GOP senators Rand Paul and James Comer, local commissioners Linda Argo and Arrington Dixon, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Phil Mendelson, chairman of D.C. Council. None of them will want to upset Trump.
What is the point of a People’s House if the people aren’t heard?
Following the Money All the Way to Tehran
If you need proof that money talks and missiles follow, look no further than how Donald Trump ended up at war with Iran—and who’s been bankrolling the worldview behind it.
This week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio made a jaw-dropping admission: the U.S. struck Iran because Israel was planning to strike first—and Washington feared Tehran would retaliate against American forces. In other words, Trump moved first because Israel’s clock was ticking. So much for America First.
To understand how we got here, The Swamp followed the money.
Few donors have had more visible sway over Trump’s Middle East posture than Miriam Adelson and her late husband Sheldon Adelson. The Adelsons have been among Trump’s biggest backers since his 2016 campaign, with the president even spotlighting their outsized influence in a speech to Israel’s parliament last year as he recounted how regularly they would call and visit him in the Oval Office.
Miriam alone, whose net worth according to Forbes sits around $37.3 billion, dropped around $100 million backing his 2024 comeback via Preserve America PAC. More recently, the megadonor and philanthropist also reportedly spent around $20 million trying to unseat libertarian-leaning Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky—a reminder that crossing certain foreign-policy lines can get expensive fast.
And at Trump’s White House Hanukkah party in December, Miriam even recounted speaking with Epstein lawyer Alan Dershowitz about the legality of Trump serving a third four-year term. “We can do it!” she said as the president beamed. “Think about it. I will give you another $250 million!” Joke? Maybe. But in Trumpworld, money and musings have a way of becoming marching orders.
Sheldon died in 2021 after assembling the world’s largest casino empire as head of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. He was famously also hawkish on Iran, once even suggesting the U.S. detonate a nuclear weapon in the Iranian desert as a warning. Trump delivered on the Adelson wish list in 2018 by ripping up Obama’s Iran Nuclear Deal, a move celebrated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and pro-Israel lobbying heavyweights like AIPAC, who have also pumped big money into backing Trump. Let’s not pretend influence in Trump’s Washington begins and ends with one donor: the National Rifle Association, Wall Street banks, defense contractors, crypto billionaires, and evangelical powerbrokers have all poured money into shaping policy outcomes. The Adelsons operate in that same hardball marketplace of access and leverage — one powerful faction among many competing to steer the ship of state. Just that this time, the ship of state has been steered right into the Straits of Hormuz.
No Affordability Crisis Here
When President Donald Trump jetted down to Texas to talk “affordability” on Friday, his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, turned heads in a pair of fancy white loafers. Maybe he thinks affordability is a hoax because he’s just hearing from the wrong crowd? Never mind the Mar-a-Lago members, Leavitt appeared to be wearing a pair of Gucci Princeton slippers that go for $990. His Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was also pictured in a Lafayette 148 New York Slade Muse Jacquard Jacket that retails for nearly $900 (or $538 on sale) on the same trip, spotted thanks to images shared by Texas Rep. Lance Gooden, who himself appeared to let his wife tag along for the ride as they caught a flight to the Lone Star state on Air Force One. Still, that solved one affordability issue: It saved the Goodens buying plane tickets.
The Real Mastermind Behind Iran War
One name has barely been mentioned in the hours and days after Donald Trump launched his war on Iran.
But behind the scenes, The Swamp has learned who has quietly been the guiding force behind Trump’s biggest gamble: it is Stephen Miller. Miller was nowhere to be seen at the curtained-off fake Situation Room at Trump-a-Lago, nor the real thing at the White House, where JD Vance, Scott Bessent, and Chris Wright were relegated to the kiddies’ table.
In fact, The Swamp has been told that Miller has been the figure in the administration most involved with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan “Raizin’” Caine. The two men have spoken regularly, both before and after Saturday morning’s first strikes.
They have forged an unlikely friendship over the past six months, quietly working behind the scenes over troops being sent to domestic cities and the targeting of so-called narco boats off the coast of South America. Miller and “Raizin’” Kaine are said to have worked closely on the planning leading to the successful capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
Pentagon sources suggest the soft-spoken military chief is less pally with Secretary of Roar Pete Hegseth. After U.S. Southern Command Commander Admiral Alvin Holsey was pushed out early after a year by Hegseth, Caine threw him a special retirement event to send a message of support to Holsey and other senior officers disgruntled by the former Fox & Friends host’s belittling behavior. Unlike his first-term predecessor, Gen. Mark Milley, who once told Miller, “shut the f— up, Stephen,” the current Joint Chiefs chairman has avoided confrontation with Trump and Hegseth and their impulsive demands. Caine seems to have excellent survival skills… but as Hegseth said, “War is hell.”
Tulsi, JD, and the Sounds of Silence
Unconscious objectors Tulsi Gabbard and JD Vance appeared to be locked in their own contest after hostilities were declared against Iran—to see who could stay silent the longest.
Both held out until Monday evening, when Vance surrendered and agreed to a brief interview with Fox News’ Jesse Watters. As of Tuesday evening, Gabbard was still conspicuous by her low profile, making four days of studious silence.
They were together in the second-rate Situation Room at the White House while all the action was at the fake version at Mar-a-Lago. And that’s not all they have in common. While Vance was never a big fan of getting involved in foreign wars, Gabbard ran an entire presidential campaign warning against war with Iran.
“This president and his chickenhawk Cabinet have led us to the brink of war with Iran,” Gabbard warned on the debate stage in 2019. “This war with Iran would be far more costly than anything that we ever saw in Iraq.” She declared at the time it would turn into a “regional war” and railed against it on Fox News, telling then-host Tucker Carlson, “How does a war with Iran serve the best interest of the American people in the United States?” She said it would make the war in Iraq look like a “cakewalk.” In a fundraising video, she even laid out step by step how Trump was setting a path to war with Iran and called it “stupid” and “very costly.”
So what does she really think? The Swamp has asked… and heard nothing.
