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I have no idea how he has been allowed to do it, but it got me thinking… What other public buildings would benefit from a TrumpianExtension™?
I think that The Tower of London would benefit from a series of flumes.
I wonder if Downing Street still has all Johnson's glam up features.
I wonder if Downing Street still has all Johnson's glam up features.
I would think it would be covered in Israeli flags these day.
Wrestlemania ring in the Capitol?
That's being installed in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Building for Linda McMahon I suspect.
A gravy wrestling ring instead of the despatch box in the houses of parliament
Chequers could do with a "Gracelands" make over surely seeing as it looks so old and tired.
I wonder if Downing Street still has all Johnson's glam up features.
Hope so. Who'd want to live in a place full of stuff from John Lewis? Imagine the embarrassment when people found out that your armchair only cost £2000
Chequers could do with a "Gracelands" make over surely seeing as it looks so old and tired.
Johnson was going to build some treehouse thing in the grounds (not sure he was planning for it to be a tourist attraction after he'd gone, but you never know).
I'd like to see Windsor Castle get a cage with a swing for Andy to be gloated on by the public.
Johnson was going to build some treehouse thing in the grounds
Add that to the list of wildly overenthusiastic infrastructure projects he pushed forward: Boris Island (airport in the Thames thing), Garden Bridge, bridge / tunnel to Northern Ireland, 40 new hospitals...
Treehouse in the grounds of Chequers...
Guess it would have been good for his 6 / 7 / 8 /9 children.
I have no idea how he has been allowed to do it
He won the election, became the President, and then gets to decide stuff. Not saying he's making good decisions, but it's because he won the election.
As far as the ballroom goes, there are much more important things to worry about than that.
I'd like to see Windsor Castle get a cage with a swing for Andy to be gloated on by the public.
Pretty sure the Tower has some good contraptions that could be borrowed for that particular installation. I know a few yeoman warders so I'm sure we could make it happen...
As far as the ballroom goes, there are much more important things to worry about than that.
That maybe so - but sometimes it can be something like this that brings a man down
The images are an good pictorial representation of his respect for the office, traditions, and peoples of America.
He literally doesn't care as long as it makes him look better in his distorted world view.
I’m sure it’ll be as tasteless as we can imagine. But I note (i) many presidents over the years have remodelled various parts of the White House, and (ii) if it were in the UK we’d still be debating if we shouldn’t hold a public enquiry as to whether it may even be possible to contemplate the possibility of doing the work.
Stonehenge is looking a bit dull nowadays. Maybe gold plate the stones and build a golf course and massage spa around it?
That guy Andy something likes money and golf and is not busy - I am sure he would be up to being the manager of it.
The images are an good pictorial representation of his respect for the office, traditions, and peoples of America.
He literally doesn't care as long as it makes him look better in his distorted world view.
It's also not the action of a bloke who is going to move out in 3 years.
It's a shocking waste of public funds
Taj Mahal needs more bling doesn't it?
It’s being paid for by Trump and his mates - naming rights no doubt to be offered.
Trump has expressly forbidden anyone from taking photos of the demolition.
So here's a video.
https://bsky.app/profile/cwebbonline.com/post/3m3oetlytss2x
Add that to the list of wildly overenthusiastic infrastructure projects he pushed forward: Boris Island (airport in the Thames thing), Garden Bridge, bridge / tunnel to Northern Ireland, 40 new hospitals...
Garden Bridge was actually a pretty cool idea that, if delivered well, would have been ace
Garden Bridge was actually a pretty cool idea that, if delivered well, would have been ace.
I'm pretty sure the £50M + spent on not building it could have been put to much much better use elsewhere in the country.
Ball Room, was this a Clinton thing?
Clinton did not have relations with that room.
As an aside, at this stage in Trump's presence in the presidency, I'm by default assuming the company doing the demolition & build are his?
I'm pretty sure the £50M + spent on not building it could have been put to much much better use elsewhere in the country.
I'm sure the Mone's could put it to good use...
Given I'm not a US tax payer and don't GAF about a nation that elected Trump....I do think it's going to provide some excellent laughs for future presidents. This is Donald Trump commissioning it here so it's going to be in the worst possible taste. As a future leader you'll be able to take VIPs on televised tours of your gaff and all piss yourself at the shite decor in the Trump ball room. Chip bits off and donate it for charity raffles just to engage the orange one in his retirement home somewhere. Selfies with a horrific gargoyle or chandelier. Use it for parties for immigrants. The list will be endless.
He’s just making money from it. The donations to fund it will be a tax write down so the tax payers will fund it and it’s probably being built by one of his companies. So the us taxpayers gets a ballroom and trump makes lots of money from it
Garden Bridge was actually a pretty cool idea that, if delivered well, would have been ace
Was that the one that Joanna Lumley didn't want to let cyclists use?
I do think it's going to provide some excellent laughs for future presidents.
Yeah I'm not sure Trump's factoring that in to any decisions.
Are there not planning restrictions in America like we have here? Given how difficult making changes to some unremarkable, but still grade 2 listed, buildings is, you’d think there’d be someone to step in if some bellend wanted to mess about with one of the most recognisable buildings in the world?
He’d just fire them, and install some one with a less discerning eye for taste, but still.
Are there not planning restrictions in America like we have here? Given how difficult making changes to some unremarkable, but still grade 2 listed, buildings is, you’d think there’d be someone to step in if some bellend wanted to mess about with one of the most recognisable buildings in the world?
He’d just fire them, and install some one with a less discerning eye for taste, but still.
Given I'm not a US tax payer and don't GAF about a nation that elected Trump
Given that we have politicians modelling themselves on the orange shitgibbon and his antics, I think that might be an overly optimistic approach
He's just carrying on the fine work that the Redcoats started in 1814.
Are there not planning restrictions in America like we have here? Given how difficult making changes to some unremarkable, but still grade 2 listed, buildings is, you’d think there’d be someone to step in if some bellend wanted to mess about with one of the most recognisable buildings in the world?
He’d just fire them, and install some one with a less discerning eye for taste, but still
Yes, in theory there are. This (BBC) report talks about the National Parks Service having some sort of oversight, but "something, something Woke, something, something DEI" would doubtless kick in first.
Given that we have politicians modelling themselves on the orange shitgibbon and his antics, I think that might be an overly optimistic approach
He's building a mausoleum for himself. The 21st century equivalent of a pyramid.
No Pharos?
Wonder if Melania's got secret plans for an extra patio out the back? Seems like the perfect opportunity
He's building a mausoleum for himself. The 21st century equivalent of a pyramid.
I reckon he's been to Windsor Castle and a couple of other royal buildings on his two state visits and gone home thinking "I want me some of that but more golder-er"
It'll be an absolute tat-fest. Like when the Allied forces reached Saddam's palace and found gold and marble fittings everywhere, gold-plated AK47s. It's the tackiest of tack.
The metaphors are just amazing though, the white house is being demolished and the Constitution is closed to the public
Apologies if I've fundamentally misunderstood US politics but,
Isn't Trump's increasingly deranged behaviour exactly why they (still) have the Second Amendment?
I think it's the reason they have the 25th amendment (and yes, I did have to search for that one)
I have no idea how he has been allowed to do it
He won the election, became the President, and then gets to decide stuff. Not saying he's making good decisions, but it's because he won the election.
He hasn’t, but as far as King Drumph is concerned, he can do anything he wants, whenever he wants, and won’t take no for an answer, going ahead and demolishing the East Wing is him saying, effectively, “now what are you gonna do, hmmm?”
Same as allowing Texas to demand the Shuttle Orbiter to be removed from the Smithsonian, despite it actually belonging to NASA, and who gifted it to the Smithsonian, which is not a Federal entity.
He's building a mausoleum for himself. The 21st century equivalent of a pyramid.
Well, if he suddenly disappears, it won’t be the patio they’ll be looking under…
It's a shocking waste of public funds
It ain’t the public who’s paying for it. It’s businesses who are coughing up the money, like dangling keys in front of a toddler, to keep his tiny little mind occupied so he doesn’t go an another deranged rant telling them they’ve got to shift entire manufacturing plants from Asia to America overnight.
He won the election, became the President, and then gets to decide stuff. Not saying he's making good decisions, but it's because he won the election.
As far as the ballroom goes, there are much more important things to worry about than that.
the various phases of the building of the Whitehouse seem to be attributed to presidents - the collonades we Jefferson apparently. The East Wing, depending on context, is attributed to either FDR or his wife, in that amongst other things it houses the First Lady's office and wider department reflecting an expansion in that role during Elenor Roosevelts tenure. But the building is mostly the 'visitor centre' part of the complex - it's where you arrive if you take a public tour. But it also serves the purpose of of hiding a great big underground bunker as it was built at the dawn of the Cold War. So while presidents get involved in choosing some of the prettier elements and cut the ribbon at the end it seems to me presidential terms are too short for any sizeable changes or additions to be conceived and executed during one (FDR served 4 terms but he could only have expected to serve one at a time). The east wing expansion was probably, really an initiative of the military and the building you see is really just there to hide their infrastructure.
The key difference here is unlike previous presidents (even unlike his own previous term) Trump is doing very little 'president' work - he presents the impression of doing work - signing things that look like work and holding them up to the camera - but he's all but stopped attending all the functional elements of government - he's signed a record high number of presidential orders but actually delivered a record low volume of legislation. He should be at twice weekly national security briefings - he's attended 5 since January. He's got time to involve himself in this because he as withdrawn from much of the actual role of 'president'
the National Parks Service having some sort of oversight, but "something, something Woke, something, something DEI" would doubtless kick in first.
theres also the trifling issue of the government being in shut down - so there functionally is no National Parks Service or any other agency with oversight at the moment
Apparently the Presidential bunker is being worked on as part of the redevelopment.
It might not be being paid for by taxpayers dollars, but it is being paid for by Big Business, and such a "gift" presumably results in favours* in return.
Leavitt had caused a bit of a fuss in the US having stated that the ballroom is Trimps priority at the moment. Not the shutdown, not the loss of access to food, or health care.
*there is some speculation that Trumps cancellation of sending ICE and the NG into San Francisco was due to the Silicon Valley peeps not wanting any of that shit in their backyard.
The east wing expansion was probably, really an initiative of the military and the building you see is really just there to hide their infrastructure.
I'm not saying you're wrong - it sounds like you know what you're talking about and I don't have the first clue -but surely if you were building a secret military base then the dead last place you'd want to build it is as a semi-detached to what's left of the Whitehouse?
Looks like the demolition may have taken out quite a bit more than the initial images showed:
Yup, looks like it is the whole of the East Wing. So much for not touching that part of the building.
Aside: I've been to the Pentagon. During the Cold War the USSR believed that "The Pentagon" was the bit in the middle rather than the infrastructure around it. Though she didn't say so explicitly, the tour guide strongly implied that this was in no small part due to propaganda/misinformation spread by the USA.
It's a hotdog stand.
Workers at the Pentagon used to joke that they had the most heavily guarded hotdog stall in the entire world. 😆
(Incidentally, should you ever find yourself in DC, I'd recommend the tour before Trump decides to turn it into the Hexagon. It's an astonishing place for many reasons beyond the ones you'd immediately expect.)
Unless it's in the near future... there are no tours currently because of the "shutdown".
Public servants aren't being paid... while they watch the White House being literally torn down to satisfy the vanity of their... er... King?
It might not be being paid for by taxpayers dollars, but it is being paid for by Big Business, and such a "gift" presumably results in favours* in return.
It is paid for by us taxpayers as those donors will offset it against their tax bil
I'm not saying you're wrong - it sounds like you know what you're talking about and I don't have the first clue -but surely if you were building a secret military base then the dead last place you'd want to build it is as a semi-detached to what's left of the Whitehouse?
I guess where it needs to be is the fewest number of steps from the Oval Office possible. It’s not secret it’s just there because militarily you need to have a place of safety for the president and cabinet
it is also of course the place Trump fled to prior to his ‘holding bible upside down outside a church’ episode during his first presidency