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Morning Joe: 'Everybody' Outside DC Finds Trump's Ballroom Plans 'Infuriating'
Morning Joe's whine-a-thon over President Trump's ballroom project has entered its second day.
Yesterday, we caught Jon Meacham emoting that Trump's decision to proceed with the project "is in some ways a definition of why we had the American Revolution." Don't fire until you see the whites of their tablecloths, Jon!
In the same episode, Meacham disingenuously suggested that before starting, Trump should have brought in the White House Historical Association and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. But as Mika had already revealed earlier in the show, the National Trust has already gone on record opposing the project!
If Trump had submitted to the groups' tender mercies, and their endless demands for redesigns, site reviews, hearings, solicitation of public commentary, etc., what are the odds the ballroom would have been completed before the end of Trump's term -- if ever?
Today, Katty Kay called the project "a let-them-eat-cake moment" given that it was happening during a government shutdown in which some food welfare benefits are on hold.
Eugene Robinson took it an absurd step further, claiming:
"People in Washington don't seem to have a sense of how ridiculous and infuriating this is to everybody else in the country."
On behalf of tens of millions of people outside Washington, let me assure you, Gene: we're not infuriated, although many might be mildly amused by your hyperbole.
Then there was Jonathan Lemire, who claimed that "the destruction of the White House, the People's House, the destruction of the East Wing, has resonated with people in a surprising way." Lemire's proof? That Lisa Murkowski said she'd heard from constituents in Alaska saying that "this is really upsetting."
Have you noticed that when a politician talks about what they've heard from constituents, their views always seem to coincide with the politician's own?
Lemire then put on his Democrat consultant cap, saying that the ballroom project is "a metaphor for what this administration is doing, and Democrats should make that point." Submit your invoice to Chuck and Hakeem, Jonathan!
And then there was Kurt Andersen, whose current gig is with The Atlantic. Poor Kurt got off to a rough start, claiming that Trump was demolishing "the 18th-century East Wing of the White House." Only two centuries off, Andersen! The East Wing was built at the beginning of the 20th century.
Andersen went on to assert that photos of the demo work evoke "a natural disaster or, more commonly these days, war or terrorism."
And finally, there was Joe Scarborough. Saying that "a picture paints a thousand words," Joe claimed the images of Trump:
"Destroying the East Wing of the White House, solo, neatly explains what the first 10 months of the second Trump term has been. And that's been a president who doesn't think he has to consult with anybody about anything."
As when Trump, either directly or via his emissaries, consulted with both sides to the Gaza war, obtaining the return of hostages and creating a ceasefire that, for now, has generally held? That failure to consult, Joe? Note: Much of the discussion focused on photos of the East Wing's demolition. But as the show acknowledged, the demolition has now been completed. In months to come, we'll be treated to photos of the ballroom rising. And when it's completed, we'll have a beautiful addition to the White House complex. Compare and contrast with Obama's library, that looks much like a high-rise mausoleum.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
10/24/25
7:13 am EDT
KATTY KAY: It's a little bit of a let them eat cake moment, where the president is building a massive ballroom that presumably will have lots of gold flashed around in it --
EUGENE ROBINSON: Ya think?
KAY: -- at the same time as people are not getting their food benefits.
ROBINSON: Look, I think those pictures of the East Wing being demolished, probably is shocking to a lot of people. It's for a ballroom. It's for a gigantic ballroom that's going to be festooned with more gold than, probably they'll have to reinforce the floors to hold all the gold, at a time when there's this pain. And the government is shut down.
It's not good politically for a president. It's certainly not good for the majority in Congress to have the government shut down week after week after week.
People in Washington don't seem to have a sense of how ridiculous and infuriating this is to everybody else in the country.
JONATHAN LEMIRE: Yeah, first of all, I do think that the destruction of the White House, the People's House, the destruction of the East Wing, has resonated with people in a surprising way. We heard Senator Murkowski of Alaska last night talking about how people in Alaska have reached out to her, saying this is really upsetting to see this.
So it does seem like it is precisely on the nose, as a metaphor for what this administration is doing, and Democrats should make that point.
. . .
KURT ANDERSEN: It's a visual world we live in, right? It's a 30-second, look at this . . . If you were going to write this whole thing, oh, let's have him suddenly tear down the 18th-century wing, East Wing of the White House.
What do the images look like? Maybe a natural disaster or, more commonly these days, war or terrorism.
. . .
JOE SCARBOROUGH: If a picture paints a thousand words, and that picture of the White House, of the president on his own, destroying the East Wing of the White House, solo, without doing what every other president has done.
. . .
But again, that picture neatly explains what the first 10 months of the second Trump term has been. And that's been a president who doesn't think he has to consult with anybody about anything.
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