The demolition of the White House East Wing sums up Donald Trump’s approach to politics. First deny and dissemble, then act unilaterally and say, whoops, too late. Nice little democracy you had there, people. Before you know it, the US Constitution will be lying in the rubble, then loaded onto a dump truck and used to create mounds for a golf course.
Am I exaggerating? Let’s hope so. But when Trump wanted a ballroom, he said it wouldn’t affect the existing White House. Then the diggers moved in, and within days, the East Wing was demolished to make way for a 90,000 square foot nouveau-Palladian tribute to Trump. This behemoth will be named after him and dwarf the adjacent “People’s House”.
And yes, piles of dirt are reportedly turning up 12 miles away at the East Potomac public golf links. This administration wouldn’t want to soil a private course.
The ballroom – the costs of which have risen from $200m (£150m) to $300m (£225m) for no discernible reason – is being paid for by donations from tech giants, such as Apple, Amazon, Google and Microsoft, arms manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin and the many-tentacled player, Palantir, founded by Peter Thiel.
square NEWS AnalysisHow Trump tore down the White House East Wing, day by day
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What are the billionaires getting out of it? Special access and favours? Protection from retribution and commercial harm? That’s all hidden.
All we know is this is a pay-to-play White House, with more at stake for the oligarchs than VIP status at a few fancy black-tie events. The public gets the dirt, they get the rewards, but I bet they feel they are being forced to eat s— while expressing their gratitude.
“You probably hear the beautiful sound of construction at the back,” Trump remarked recently. “You hear that sound? Oh, that’s music to my ears. I love that sound. Other people don’t like it.”
Where Trump hears construction, others hear destruction. Actually, there is a case to be made for expanding the entertaining space at the White House, which hitherto has erected giant marquees for grand state occasions. It is the lack of consultation and permission that grates. Trump exults in behaving as a king.
The US President’s latest act of impunity is to demand that the Department of Justice (DoJ) pay him $230m (£172m) in damages for its investigations into the Trump campaign’s alleged links with Russia in 2016 and the stash of classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago resort (in a shower, among other places).
These costs, if paid, will be borne by the US taxpayer. Even Trump can spot that the optics look bad. “It’s interesting, ‘cause I’m the one that makes the decision, right?” He added airily that he might give the proceeds to charity “or something”, but his record of fulfilling such promises is poor.
The demand for a bung is only the most obvious way in which Trump is ripping off the US public. For instance, it costs money for the DoJ to prosecute his enemies, such as former FBI chief James Comey, New York attorney general Letitia James and former national security adviser John Bolton.
But this is small beer compared to the way Trump is bending the whole apparatus of government to his purposes. Remember how the military top brass was summoned to Quantico to hear Trump and his Secretary of “War”, Pete Hegseth, declare their new priority was the home front and America’s “enemies within”?
Currently, Trump is gabbling at every opportunity about his right to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy the military – paid for by the taxpayer – domestically. This acute case of “mentionitis” surely signifies intent.
A few days ago, Trump boasted that government departments are straining to prevent a rerun of the 2020 election, which he lost fairly and squarely but continues to claim was “stolen” from him.
Speaking at the White House, he said, “We can never let what happened in the 2020 election happen again, we just can’t let that happen.” According to Trump, Kash Patel, the director of the FBI, and Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, are spearheading these efforts.
“I know Kash is working on it; everybody is working on it. And certainly Tulsi is working on it. We can’t let that happen again to our country,” he said.
The purpose of the FBI (budget $10.5bn) is to investigate crime, cybersecurity and terrorism. Gabbard’s national intelligence office was created after 9/11 to prevent future terrorist attacks. Instead, the US public is funding their work on potentially subverting the next election.
Meanwhile, Congress is deadlocked, the government is shut down and federal workers are going without pay. Health insurance premiums are set to rise exponentially if the dispute is not resolved.
I wish I could say Trump’s Maga supporters are feeling betrayed. But they still love the way he is breaking democratic norms. An annual American values survey by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution found recently that 82 per cent of Republican voters regard Trump as a “strong leader” who should be given the power he needs to restore American greatness”.
On the other hand, 56 per cent of all voters believe, “Trump is a dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy.” This spark of resistance may grow into a five-alarm fire for Trump.
Sarah Baxter is Director of the Marie Colvin Center for International Reporting
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