The president’s mega-project raises a lot of questions – including when he’s planning on leaving
D
onald Trump has quite the passion for American history. If there’s a controversial statue commemorating a dead white supremacist out there, there’s a good chance the president has gone to bat for it.
“Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments,” Trump tweeted in 2017, in response to a push to remove Confederate monuments. “You can’t change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson – who’s next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish!” Trump added.
Trump is right that you can’t change history. But, if you’re the president, you can abruptly bulldoze it with no permits and no public input. The 123-year-old East Wing of the White House, the home of offices for every first lady for almost half a century, is now a pile of rubble. After Trump said in July that the historic building would not be touched, it was stealthily bulldozed to make way for a $300m ballroom. According to Trump, there was a teeny little change of plans “after really a tremendous amount of study with some of the best architects in the world”.
