WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump’s demolition of the entire East Wing of the White House to build a massive, $300 million ballroom paid for by billionaires and top businesses is drawing plenty of criticism from Democrats on Capitol Hill, but Republicans are largely sticking by him.
“I didn’t hear a whole lot of concern about our history when my colleagues were applauding all of those rioters tearing down statues and rewriting our history books,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told HuffPost, referring to Democrats’ push to remove Confederate statues and images across the country. “So I think the concern about the facade of the East Wing is maybe a little rich.”
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) blamed Democrats for blocking government funding while complaining about “improving” the White House.
“They don’t even like the White House,” Barrasso said in a speech Thursday. “They don’t like that [Trump’s] in the White House. They don’t like the fact that he’s improving the White House. They don’t like the fact that he’s going to continue being in the White House.”
Demolition of the East Wing was completed Thursday after just four days of work. Unlike past renovations, the public was not invited to comment on the major changes to the People’s House. The White House also didn’t submit plans to the federal agency that oversees the construction of federal buildings.
