Featured Image Credit: Brynn Anderson-Pool/Getty Images
Topics: Melania Trump, Politics, US News, Donald Trump
Rhiannon Ingle
Topics: Melania Trump, Politics, US News, Donald Trump
United States First Lady Melania Trump has sparked outrage over her attitude towards her husband Donald's White House demolition.
As part of his $300,000,000 renovation project, Trump has torn down the East Wing of the White House, which has long been home to the offices of America’s first ladies, in order to make room for a new presidential ballroom.
Such a project has reportedly temporarily halted White House tours and displaced several staff offices.
Melania's team has been affected by the changes, with her staff members having to relocate to other areas of the White House, including the Vermeil Room, Library, China Room, and South Mezzanine.
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With that said, though, it's no secret that Melania has spent much of Trump's second term outside of the Washington residence, living primarily in New York and Palm Beach.
Her absence and lack of public involvement in the controversial renovations mark quite a notable difference from her first term, when she played an active role in White House restoration projects.
Such efforts included redesigning the Rose Garden, unveiling a new tennis pavilion and refurbishing the Blue Room.
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"Watching the demolition is the physical embodiment of watching the first lady’s role become smaller and smaller," Kate Andersen Brower, author of First Women, stated to CNN.
"She’s making it clear that – like her husband – she’s not going to be like any other first lady. … She doesn’t care about historic precedent, either."
Meanwhile, former First Lady Hillary Clinton took to social media to criticise the demolition, writing on X last week (21 October): "It’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it."
Tyla has reached out to the White House for comment.
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Backlash over the renovations only grew after Trump recently revealed that it would actually cost $300 million, a staggering $100 million more than originally forecast.
Following the criticism, the White House issued a 'fact sheet' to the press, which echoes many of its countless previous jabs against what the institution dubs 'unhinged leftists' and 'Fake News'.
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"In the latest instance of manufactured outrage, unhinged leftists and their Fake News allies are clutching their pearls over President Donald J. Trump’s visionary addition of a grand, privately funded ballroom to the White House - a bold, necessary addition that echoes the storied history of improvements and additions from commanders-in-chief to keep the executive residence as a beacon of American excellence," it reads.
The release continues by listing other moments in US history when presidents have made updates to the White House, saying Trump is 'carrying forward that legacy'.
However, according to Ed Lengel, a historian at the White House Historical Association, the White House has seen many renovations over the years, but none as extensive as Trump’s current project.
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"There’s never been anything like that [Trump's ballroom renovation] before. And I think I can say that with total confidence. There’s been nothing on that scale, even close to that scale, that has ever been done before," the expert told The Hill.