Democrats Condemn Construction of Trump’s New $250 Million White House Ballroom: ‘You Don’t Put Rims on a Rental’

“Why do megalomaniacs always build giant monuments?” Illinois congressman Jonathan L. Jackson remarks

A general view of the ongoing construction works on the White House grounds in Washington, D.C., United States, on October 20, 2025. (Credit: Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A general view of the ongoing construction works on the White House grounds in Washington, D.C., United States, on October 20, 2025. (Credit: Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The start of construction on President Trump’s new White House ballroom has prompted incredulous reactions and widespread condemnation from Democratic lawmakers and public officials online.

Construction vehicles tore down part of the White House’s East Wing Monday. In the place of the debris, Trump plans to erect a 90,000-square-foot ballroom. The work is projected to cost around $250 million and, if all goes according to plan, will nearly double the size of the existing White House structure. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in July that the ballroom will be paid for by both private donors and Trump himself.

Trump had previously claimed that the ballroom’s construction would not interfere with the building’s current structure. The destruction witnessed Monday proved those comments to be false.

The move comes as cost of living concerns among everyday Americans remain high, not to mention the government shutdown that has been ongoing for several weeks now. It was with all that in mind that some of Trump’s biggest Democratic opponents took to social media to denounce the president’s decision to spend any time — and money — right now on building an extravagant ballroom.

“A $250 million gilded White House ballroom. $40 billion dollars to bail out Argentina,” California Senator Alex Padilla remarked on his X account Tuesday morning. “Meanwhile, millions of Americans are bracing for their health insurance payments to double because Trump won’t lift a finger to help them.”

“Why do megalomaniacs always build giant monuments?” Illinois congressman Jonathan L. Jackson remarked on X. “You don’t put rims on a rental, or custom cabinets in an Airbnb—and you sure don’t build a gold-plated Oval Office, billion-dollar jet, grand ballroom and now an ‘Arc de Trump’ if you actually plan on leaving in 3 years.”

Elsewhere, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren similarly condemned Trump’s ballroom project, writing on X, “Oh you’re trying to say the cost of living is skyrocketing? Donald Trump can’t hear you over the sound of bulldozers demolishing a wing of the White House to build a new grand ballroom.”

“It is corruption at its core,” former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said of the construction project during an appearance on “The View” Tuesday. “There’s no greater metaphor right now [for] what’s happening right now in this country than watching Donald Trump take a wrecking ball to the White House.”

The aforementioned politicians and public figures were far from the only ones to comment on the White House’s partial destruction this week. Check out more social reactions to the ballroom project below.

Rachel Maddow hosting the Oct. 20, 2025 edition of "The Rachel Maddow Show" (Credit: MSNBC)
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Alex Welch

Alex is an Audience Writer at TheWrap, based in Los Angeles. He has been covering the entertainment industry since 2013. Before joining TheWrap in 2025, he worked as a critic and reporter for A.frame, Digital Trends, Inverse, IGN, Looper, and multiple other outlets. A lifelong cinephile, he dreams of one day being invited to the…

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