Majority of the time, new things mean new beginnings and fresh starts. But sometimes things are just better left as they are.
Case in point: the White House is fine – in fact it is gorgeous. “Is” is a strong word as millions of dollars are currently being dumped into tearing apart a gorgeous, national landmark.
On July 31, 2025, the Trump Administration announced its intentions to replace the East Wing of the White House with The White House Ballroom. This feat will cost more than 350 million dollars and is expected to be completed long before the end of President Trump’s term.
The White House is not the president’s playground. I understand that it is where he lives for his term, but he doesn’t own it and it is not his to do with as he wishes.
It is a national landmark that belongs to the people.
Thankfully, no one has proposed a full White House teardown. So the current problem is focused on the eastern most section of the building.
First built in 1892, by former-president Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), for the purpose of expanding office space and concealing the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, the East Wing was a controversial space from the beginning. When built, US citizens were concerned about the perceived cost during wartime (for context the construction of the East Wing cost 232,372, which is equivalent to 4.2 million today).
Over time the East Wing has developed into a space for the First Lady and her staff. This fact grew exponentially during the Kennedy Administration. Many First Ladies had been known to work from their bedroom’s, but First Lady Rosalynn Carter was the first to establish a formal office in the East Wing in 1977.
There are many supporters of the ballroom that argue that the First Lady doesn’t need this large of a space, or any at all, as she has no formal role in her husband’s administration. This is plain wrong.
While the First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) has no official listed role, nor is an elected official, she resides in the White House with her spouse and public service is imminent. It is such a key role that in the past when Presidents have been widowed or unmarried, they would select a family member or friend to serve in this position.
Eleanor Roosevelt, FLOTUS from 1933 to 1945, focused on morality and social justice. She was the first to hold all-female press conferences, helped to fund the National Youth Administration and toured military bases many times to boost morale. In 1939, Roosevelt sat between a group of white people and a group of black people at a Southern Conference for Human Welfare. She became head of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in 1946.
Roosevelt is just one of dozens of FLOTUS’s that have made huge impacts on our country.
Beyond the tacky details he is adding, it is also important to address what is being taken away. They are not just destroying ANY part of the White House, they have chosen to take away the one part of the White House that has historically belonged to a woman.
By tearing apart their office, and the history within the East Wing, we are taking a step back from progress.
All of that history aside, Trump is destroying the soul of the White House. Not just in his ballroom, but all over. The classic design is being replaced with tacky details that make the building look less like a historical landmark and more like a lego building of one.
We cannot just stand by and let the FLOTUS offices and the integrity of the White House flush down the drain. This isn’t just a remodel. It is a threat to our government.