The Week: Trump’s Ballroom Blitz

• Just wait till they see his plans to turn the Ellipse into a pitch and putt.

• Earlier this week, President Trump began demolishing the White House East Wing to replace it with a $250 million ballroom. But judging by the morose and hysterical rhetoric that has emanated from the Democratic Party and its ideological allies during the past couple of days, one might have thought that Trump had announced his intention to send a squadron of B-2 bombers across the Potomac to completely level Washington, D.C. California Governor Gavin Newsom complained that Trump is “literally destroying the White House,” while Hillary Clinton groaned that “it’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.” Of all the reasons to criticize Trump, however, this must count as the silliest. The president is simply replacing a handful of 1940s-era office buildings with a ballroom. As a general matter, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with a president making changes to the White House. Over the years, presidents of both parties and of all leadership styles have done precisely that, and in no cases have these changes implied incipient fascism, betrayed an inappropriate sense of permanent ownership, or justified tears and outrage from political critics. Certainly, one may quibble with Trump’s often gaudy design preferences. But, objectively, the White House lacks sufficiently robust entertainment spaces, and the addition of a new facility will clearly help to alleviate that problem. The justification for this is so obvious that the idea was first proposed by President Harrison—back in 1891. Altering a modern part of the executive branch’s headquarters is not akin to “destroying” the White House. Good grief, people. Pull yourselves together.

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• Just wait till they see his plans to turn the Ellipse into a pitch and putt.

• Earlier this week, President Trump began demolishing the White House East Wing to replace it with a $250 million ballroom. But judging by the morose and hysterical rhetoric that has emanated from the Democratic Party and its ideological allies during the past couple of days, one might have thought that Trump had announced his intention to send a squadron of B-2 bombers across the Potomac to completely level Washington, D.C. California Governor Gavin Newsom complained that Trump is “literally destroying the White House,” while Hillary Clinton groaned that “it’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.” Of all the reasons to criticize Trump, however, this must count as the silliest. The president is simply replacing a handful of 1940s-era office buildings with a ballroom. As a general matter, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with a president making changes to the White House. Over the years, presidents of both parties and of all leadership styles have done precisely that, and in no cases have these changes implied incipient fascism, betrayed an inappropriate sense of permanent ownership, or justified tears and outrage from political critics. Certainly, one may quibble with Trump’s often gaudy design preferences. But, objectively, the White House lacks sufficiently robust entertainment spaces, and the addition of a new facility will clearly help to alleviate that problem. The justification for this is so obvious that the idea was first proposed by President Harrison—back in 1891. Altering a modern part of the executive branch’s headquarters is not akin to “destroying” the White House. Good grief, people. Pull yourselves together.