The New York Times has a nausea-inducing deep dive into Marie Antoinette Trump’s plans for a Versailles-like ballroom to replace the East Wing of the White House, which he destroyed.
Actually, Versailles-like wasn’t enough for Trump’s self-aggrandizing dreams. As The Times tells it, Trump’s architect, James McCrery, originally designed the ballroom to have “high ceilings and arched windows reminiscent of Versailles’s Hall of Mirrors. It would have the latest security features, including bulletproof glass. Gold furniture, known to please the president, was added to the renderings.”
But that wasn’t enough for President Piggy. Even as he “assured the public in July that the ballroom would not touch the existing structure, he already had approved plans to demolish the East Wing to make way for something that could hold several thousand people, according to three people familiar with the timeline,” The Times reported. He now plans a ballroom much larger than the West Wing and the Executive Mansion, big enough to hold a crowd for a presidential inauguration.
Just like Trump thinks he’s exempt from the U.S. Constitution and American laws, he has reportedly “told people working on the ballroom that they did not need to follow permitting, zoning or code requirements.”
The Washington Post describes Trump as “at times” veering into “micromanagement of the ballroom project, “holding frequent meetings about its design and materials. A model of the ballroom has also become a regular fixture in the Oval Office.”
Between that, golfing, watching TV, and his shortened hours, it’s pretty clear Trump is shirking what is supposed to be his real job.
Even so, Trump is botching his latest construction project! “The various plans released so far, including a rushed model made by a contractor, have included windows that collide into each other and a staircase to nowhere,” as per The Times.
In addition to the ballroom, his garish makeover of the Lincoln Bathroom, and the gold gilding he slapped on almost every available surface of the Oval Office, Trump “has informally discussed undertaking more projects at the White House, including more work on the West Wing,” The Times said.
I’m sure he’ll find it the perfect place to say, “let them eat cake” when someone informs Trump that groceries have become out of reach for the masses.
