The bulldozers and backhoes have razed the East Wing of the White House to make way for President Trump’s big, beautiful ballroom. Characteristically, Trump has barreled ahead, heedless of the law, tradition, or concerns about historic protection and good taste.
The White House is owned by the American people and managed by the National Park Service. Past presidents have respected this distinction and have recognized that changes to the White House should follow processes designed to preserve the historical integrity and symbolism of the People’s House.
In an October 21st letter, the National Trust for Historic Preservation (National Trust), which is chartered by Congress to further historic preservation, wrote the White House urging it “to pause demolition until plans for the proposed ballroom go through the legally required public review processes, including consultation and review by the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts, and to invite comment from the public.”
The National Trust noted that the federally recognized Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation offers guidance for construction projects affecting historic properties, including that “new additions should not destroy the historic fabric of the property and that the new work should be compatible with existing massing, size, scale, and architectural features.”
One major concern is that the ballroom will be an outsized eyesore. At 90,000 square feet, it would be nearly double the size of the White House residence. In the measured words of the National Trust, the project will “permanently disrupt the carefully balanced classical design of the White House with its two smaller, and lower, East and West Wings.”
While the White House enjoys an exemption to the National Historic Preservation Act, a law that establishes a program for the preservation of historic properties, every administration since President Johnson signed the Act into law has followed its review process.
When many of these protocols were drafted, no one contemplated they would be overridden by a rogue president ready to roll out demolition crews on a whim. That is because past presidents have recognized that they live in the People’s House and that care must be taken to honor the building’s historical significance.
When Harry Truman had to gut the interior of the White House in 1950, he had the good sense to personally see to it that every bit deemed historic and essential was catalogued, set aside, preserved, and then properly put back in place once the new internal structure, steel I-beams, and replacement flooring of the Executive Mansion were re-installed.
When Jacqueline Kennedy undertook an upgrade of White House furnishings, she consulted with private architects and historic preservation experts to ensure the project was historically faithful to the building and its history.
When Trump announced this plan to build a ballroom in July, he assured that the project would not interfere with the existing White House structure. At the time, he called the White House “one of the most beautiful and historic buildings in the world.”
Now, Mr. Trump says the East Wing “was never thought of as being much” and “needed to go.”
This is a president who has paved over the Kennedy Rose Garden and redecorated the Oval Office with “over the top golden opulence.” His garish sense of taste may result in an even bigger ballroom in an ego-fueled effort to make the Palace of Versailles look like a quaint bungalow.
Then, there is the bunker. Under the East Wing is the Presidential Emergency Operations Center which serves as a secure shelter and communications center (and where then-Vice President Dick Cheney was secreted after 9/11). It is also reportedly being demolished to be replaced by a larger, even more secure version. One shudders to contemplate possible future uses of a customized Trump Bunker.
As Hillary Clinton commented, “It’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.” Unfortunately, Trump’s treatment of the White House mirrors his treatment of other venerated public institutions, wreaking havoc in seemingly insatiable usurpations of authority. Repairing all this damage will take time.
Jeff Ruch is the former Executive Director and Pacific Director of PEER. He now serves as Senior Counsel.
