White House ballroom is turning into a symbol of Trump's failures

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White House ballroom is turning into a symbol of Trump’s failures
The president’s only legacy will be greed and corruption

By Amanda Marcotte
Senior Writer
Published May 20, 2026 6:45AM (EDT)


( Salon). The surest sign that a MAGA leader knows they screwed up? When they try to pass off the stupid thing they said as a “joke.” But the right-wing podcaster Eric Metaxas was not joking at Sunday’s Rededicate 250 event on the National Mall when he said, “It’s hard to believe that it would take two centuries for the Lord to raise up a great man to bring that ballroom finally to stand where it needs to stand. It’s extraordinary.”

He had gotten a laugh a moment before when he mocked President James Madison for not having a ballroom when the White House was burned by the British during the War of 1812. But when Metaxas praised Donald Trump and claimed that God’s providence is on the president and his ballooning ballroom project, the crowd’s cheering was loud — and serious.

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It can sometimes seem like Trump, who is constitutionally barred from running for president again, has ceased caring about his reputation. “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody,” the president told reporters on May 12, accidentally doing what he rarely does: tell the truth. Republican tried to clean up his comments by claiming the context — he was asked about the Iran war’s impact on people back home — exonerated his rhetoric. But Trump, who will turn 80 in June and is displaying increasing levels of disinhibition, declined his own chance to walk back his words when it was offered by Fox News’ Bret Baier.

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The White House ballroom illustrates how Trump has destroyed the Republican Party by turning it into a cult devoted to himself. After Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian, ruled that a provision to give Trump $1 billion of taxpayer money for the project could not be included in an immigration enforcement funding bill, one would think Republicans would have been relieved. The ballroom is wildly unpopular, and MacDonough’s decision could have saved the GOP from insulting already aggrieved voters. Instead, Senate Republicans are reportedly trying to find another way to restore the funding. According to a report published by NOTUS, the president is pressuring Senate Majority Leader John Thune to fire MacDonough. The ballroom could end up as a testament to how Republicans will torch their own political careers to appease their leader’s greed. ..............(snip)

https://www.salon.com/2026/05/20/white-house-ballroom-is-turning-into-a-symbol-of-trumps-failures/