Ahead of the US midterm elections on November 3, all eyes are on the White House, specifically its interiors.
After White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino posted a video on X of the construction of President Donald Trump’s ballroom on Friday, former President Barack Obama told a crowd at an Ohio rally on Saturday gave his opinion on the video. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he seems very focused on home renovation. He should be on HGTV,” Obama said, adding that Trump is building a “ballroom that’s bigger than the White House” and questioning “What’s with all the gold? He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened up a Cheesecake Factory.”
Obama wasn’t the only one criticizing Trump’s taste for lavish interiors. At a rally on Friday in Hollywood, Florida, former President Bill Clinton also mocked the refurbishments taking place at the White House. “I think Congress made a mistake not protesting turning the Rose Garden into what looks like the entrance to Liberace’s bathroom,” he said.
In September, a divided Supreme Court ruled that Trump’s luxury ballroom will proceed as planned and replace the East Wing of the White House. The court ruled in a 5-to-4 vote that the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit chartered by Congress, did not have the legal grounds to bring its lawsuit because the persons in question were not directly harmed by the project.
“This is not the final decision on the merits of our case and does not resolve our fundamental argument—that each president is a temporary steward of the People’s House and does not have the unilateral authority to demolish and redesign it without the approval of Congress,” National Trust president Brent Leggs said at the time.
