Trump's Reaction To Haters Of His Ballroom Reno Proves How Far Gone His Ego Truly Is

Donald Trump doesn't care what you think about his renovation. Nearly three months after announcing his plans to build a fancy new ballroom in the White House, the president's latest vanity project is officially underway. According to Trump, the new addition is designed to host large-scale gatherings, with enough sitting room for approximately 650 to 900 people, and it is long overdue. "They've wanted a ballroom at the White House for more than 150 years but there's never been a president that was good at ballrooms," the divisive politician boasted to the press in August (via AP News). "I'm good at building things and we're going to build quickly and on time." 

Trump insists that the project will be funded entirely through private donations (including a generous contribution from the man himself) and won't cost taxpayers a single dime. "It'll be a great legacy project," he further emphasized. "I think it will be really beautiful." At a private luncheon for Republican senators, at the Rose Garden, on October 21, the president couldn't help but brag about his $250 million project. Pointing to the construction behind him, he quipped, "You hear that sound? Oh, that's music to my ears," (via X, formerly known as Twitter). 

Moreover, the controversial leader's reaction to the ongoing backlash only proved what we've always known about Trump: His ego has no limits. "The people don't like it. I love it, shush," he added. "I think when I hear that sound it reminds me of money. In this case, it reminds me of lack of money, because I'm paying for it. So it's the opposite." Um, sure. It's unclear how much of his own money Trump has donated to the project, but he promised it's going to be spectacular.

For context, Donald Trump's White House ballroom project marks the first major structural change to the historical complex since 1948. Since construction plans were announced in July, organizations like the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) have publicly denounced the project. In a statement, AIA expressed serious concern that the size and scale of the president's ballroom renovation might compromise the White House's historic value. "Any modifications to it — especially modifications of this magnitude — should reflect the importance, scale and symbolic weight of the White House itself," they stressed (via the New York Times). 

The SAH Heritage Conservation Committee agreed, pointing out that because this is the first modification at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in decades it should "follow a rigorous and deliberate design and review process." It's worth noting that the Trump administration pushed ahead with the construction despite not getting the green light from the National Capital Planning Commission. Meanwhile, on social media, users had a field day over the divisive politician's latest comments about his controversial ballroom. 

"WHO IN THIS COUNTRY SAID WE NEED A BALL ROOM?" one asked aloud on X. In this economy? During a government shutdown!? "First of all it's not his personal house to do all of this...secondly people are losing health care and jobs while he is building his ugly ballroom," another opined (check out the bizarre things you'll find in Trump's Mar-A-Lago home.) Others accused the president of exaggerating his personal contributions. As one user noted, there's no telling exactly how much he's actually spending, if anything, "But a bulk of the ballroom funding will [surely] be coming from private donors that Trump has sold access to. I'd imagine they'll get tax write offs on it as well."