Tag: White House ballroom

  • When the empire burns, talk about marble! Trump has gone full weird in post-election press conference

    by Winston Wendell

    After watching a multitude of administrations fall apart over historic scandals, crushing election results and disastrous legislation over many years of being a political analyst, I thought I had seen it all. But nothing could have prepared me for Trump’s bizarre behaviour on the south lawn just 24 hours after one of the most painful election results in recent political history.

    Donald Trump speaking at a podium surrounded by reporters and cameras

    When a ruling party loses control of both houses of congress to a resurgent democratic majority (losing the house of representatives AND at least seven key senate seats including Texas, Kansas and Ohio) traditionally there will be a period of reflection, damage control and apology.

    However, president Donald Trump decided to talk about the most important issue facing the country…

    The President shocked White House correspondents and seasoned politicians by holding a last minute press conference. The pool were called with absolutely no notice and were taken to the White House to see the final beam lifted for the new ballroom, instead of being briefed in the briefing room on the “blue tsunami”.

    Many in the media were taken aback to become part of Trump’s interior design lesson.

    “As it turns out we may actually get a statement from Trump. After an unexpected pool call, correspondent Danny Kemp noted on X. “Trump turned up out of nowhere to talk about the ballroom, the golf course and other beautification projects in Washington,” said Reuters reporter Gram Slattery.

    A sombre Trump held his faulty microphone as he guided guests around plans and pillars. He completely ignored the fact he had lost massively in the elections and instead praised the security and luxe finishes.

    “It’s totally drone proof, totally missile proof, totally bulletproof,” he said, pointing to the beams above. He then pointed to the marble floor below. “This is marble. We got it from a vein everybody wanted for a long time.”

    Commentators were stunned. As Jake Sherman, co-founder of Punchbowl News noted, “It’s so ridiculous that he’s talking about top of the line brickwork a day after an entire generation of republicans lost their seats in the House.” Conservative commentator Erick Erickson also commented, “It’s pretty tone deaf. People took it out on his entire party last night.”

    When the election results were brought up, Trump tried to deflect the question. “If I was on the ballot we would have won. But they just — you couldn’t translate that love,” he said, referring to his campaign rallies.

    The issue of impeachment, which Trump himself warned about in January, was also a pressing issue as a democratic house would not hesitate to launch it. However, Trump dismissed it completely. “Not even a little bit.”

    He also briefly mentioned the Iran conflict, which has been blamed for many GOP candidates losing their seats. While acknowledging that his party’s defeat was largely attributable to the war, he defended it as “worth it.” admitting it was “largely true” that his party lost out due to the war, he defended it as “worth it”. “Whenever I want it to be over,” he added.

    Overall, whilst this bizarre situation was played out, when empires are at a crossroads leaders will often calm the waters. However, with Washington trying to get to grips with the new political landscape, President Trump has made it clear what his priorities are. The empire may be burning, but he wants to talk about the marble.

  • Federal Appeals Court Halted Construction on Trump’s Ballroom Project

    Blue Press Journal

    WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court has paused construction on President Donald Trump’s budgeted 400 million-dollar project of the White House ballroom. The court ruled that building the ballroom should be immediately stopped from proceeding with any jobs “above ground”, including features the government claims are necessary security measures.

    Donald Trump speaking at a podium in the White House ballroom with an audience listening
    .

    On Friday, a 2-1 panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled to uphold a preliminary injunction against the President. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, an organization that protects buildings, filed the injunction in December 2025 after the administration began demolition of the East Wing to make way for a 90,000 square foot subterranean ballroom not approved by Congress.

    Patricia Millett’s and Bradley Garcia’s opinions, in which they ruled in favor of preservation, were joined by judges who were appointed by President Barack Obama and Joe Biden. They stated that the Constitution does not permit presidential edicts to dictate the use of federal resources.

    They continued, “whether a large ballroom should be built…is a decision for Congress, not the President” due to the fact that the Constitution grants spending authority over the federal assets to lawmakers, not the executive branch, despite the security reasons cited by the administration.

    However, the decision to halt the work was only made official for two weeks in order to allow the Trump administration to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

    Neomi Rao, who was nominated by President Trump, filed a dissenting opinion in response to the majority’s ruling. She stated that the injunction which stopped the work was an act of judicial activism.

    “By stepping in and taking control over something as monumental as the White House, the district court engaged in judicial activism,” she wrote. “Courts shouldn’t be running building projects”

    The administration’s original plan was to decommission the East Wing while keeping the West Wing as a separate unit. However, the White House Complex’s budget requires funding beyond the president’s official salary so the administration argued that the entire wing be demolished to make way for the expansion of the subterranean chamber.

    Furthermore, the administration claims that the ballroom project is part of larger security upgrades to the complex.

    President Trump expressed dissatisfaction with the decision in his Truth Social page. He stated that the ruling was “politically motivated and completely illegal.” He argued that not completing the ballroom project endangered future presidents, staff, diplomats, and the general public.

    The two-week pause in the construction of the ballroom project means that the future of the project depends on whether or not Trump’s emergency appeal to the Supreme Court is granted.

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