Anger over President Donald Trump’s demolition of the historic East Wing to make way for his $300 million ballroom has sparked a series of memes, mocking what’s next for the White House redesign.
While Trump previously said he wouldn’t interfere with the existing structure of the East Wing, his construction crews began to tear it down Monday, prompting widespread outrage.
People online responded by picturing what else Trump could have in store, including a new Trump Tower attached to the White House, his own personal McDonald’s and a hotel, casino and golf course complex at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Democratic strategist Joel Montfort posted a meme of a 20-dollar bill with a digger tearing down the White House. “Current situation,” he captioned the post.
Ex-President Barack Obama’s former speechwriter, Jon Favreau, said that his team “joked” in 2011 “about what Trump might do to the White House if he became president.”
Favreau shared a meme of a Trump themed hotel, casino and golf resort with “the White House” lit up in neon lights, two women wearing bikinis in the North Lawn fountain, and garish gold pillars.
Political strategist Chris D. Jackson shared an AI-generated image depicting the president selling bricks as souvenirs in front of a partially demolished White House.
Another user shared an AI-generated image of Trump sitting on a gold wrecking ball smashing into the White House, similar to the one in Miley Cyrus’s 2013 music video that has been the subject of hundreds of memes.
MAGA also joined in the fun. A pro-Trump account that generates memes in favor of the president teased that the ballroom “is just the beginning,” and shared a picture of the White House completely plated in gold – Trump’s favorite.
Trump’s demolition of the East Wing has proved deeply unpopular with many Americans, according to recent polling.
A YouGov poll conducted Tuesday revealed that 53 percent disapproved of demolishing part of the East Wing for the renovation.
Photos taken Thursday confirmed that construction for Trump’s new ballroom is far more dramatic than the president previously anticipated.
When faced with questions about the construction Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt urged people to “trust the process” and defended the administration’s transparency on the project.
“With any construction project, changes come,” Leavitt said, adding that the team overseeing the project determined it would be more structurally stable to take down the entire East Wing rather than build an addition.
“We have informed all of you, we’ve been keeping you apprised of this project, we’ve shown you the renderings and if you look at the renderings it's very clear the East Wing was going to be modernized.”
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