Trump’s White House Renovations: New Cause for Leftist Outrage

by John Bernard, ©2025

(Oct. 21, 2025) — The Left has a whole new bone to gnaw on: the unforgivable physical changes Trump is making and has already made to the White House. But let’s be honest; would this concern the Left as much if Clinton, Obama or Biden had done this? If not, then the real issue is the who and not the what.

Every bit of bureaucratic red tape they say he has illegally bypassed would be dealing with the allocation of tax dollars exclusively, which are not being used here. Additionally, the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) has been delegated all authority to oversee every bit of construction from one end of the Mall to the other – with zero Congressional oversight, beyond funding requests. What remains is plan review, inspections and occupancy permits, the first of which is tacitly blessed by NCPC already (see below).

One enterprising gotcha-debater asked me how I would like some stranger entering my home and making changes without my permission (pointing out that it’s the People’s House) Well, firstly, it isn’t as if we own anything, now is it? Property taxes, building permits, complex property boundary requirements, wetland protection laws, homeowner association rules, certain excise taxes, in some states, taxes on presumed property value increases, ad nauseum… They (the government) tell us what to do with our property all day, every day. Just ask the “owners” of property along Mass Ave. in Lexington, MA how much they “own”…

Here’s just a short list of changes the White House has seen for those earnestly, uniquely concerned about breaches of historical trust versus who is making these latest changes:

White House Construction, Remodeling, Additions, Repairs of note:

1791 Cornerstone laid under George Washington

1814 Burned to the ground by the Brits

1817 Monroe moves back in

1830 North Portico built under Andrew Jackson

1902 West Wing added under Theodore Roosevelt

1909 West Wing expanded and remodeled under William H. Taft

1927 Roof Remodeling under Calvin Coolidge

1929 West Wing Fire Remodeling under Herbert Hoover

1942 East Wing built under Franklin D. Roosevelt

1948-1952 The entire building was gutted/demo’d and rebuilt, including undergirding, with the addition of a 22-foot deep foundation, reinforced concrete floors throughout, steel girders, new plumbing and electrical systems, new trim, under Harry S. Truman

1973 A Bowling Alley under Richard M. Nixon

1977 Office of the First Lady in the East Wing under Jimmy Carter

2009 Michelle Obama created the White House Kitchen Garden

2025 Flagpole and Patio financed by Trump and Partners

2025 Construction started on a Ballroom/Function Hall, financed by donations under Donald J. Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) — Demolition to build President Donald Trump’s new ballroom off the East Wing of the White House can begin without approval of the commission tasked with vetting construction of federal buildings, the Trump-appointed head of the panel said Thursday.

Will Scharf, who is also the White House staff secretary, said during a public meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission that the board does not have jurisdiction over demolition or site preparation work for buildings on federal property.

“What we deal with is essentially construction, vertical build,” Scharf said. He called Trump’s promised ballroom “one of the most exciting construction projects in the modern history of” Washington.

He made the comments during the only public meeting of the commission scheduled before crews are expected to break ground on a $200 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom likely to greatly alter the look and size of both the White House’s East and West Wings. “

Source

Semper Fi

John Bernard