“It has a vision of making the White House as exceptional and beautiful as possible for future presidents and administrations,” said the White House official. “It is very practical and involved in all this.”
Trump is recorded in construction workers on the land of the White House weekly and spends 20-30 minutes with them, asking questions, said the same official. He even invited some of those who work in the Rose Garden project in the Oval office recently.
Another White House official, who also speaks under anonymity, added: “The president is very directly involved, even more than the first lady.”
Much of Trump’s aesthetics can undo if a future president wishes. Each new president makes changes in the decoration of the Oval office. The rose garden pavement can always be torn and the restored grass. When Trump goes in 2029, gold could continue.
“Who happens to Trump, if he is not in gold, El Dorado will begin to fall,” said Barbara Perry, a professor of presidential studies at the Miller Center of the University of Virginia.
However, the dance hall could represent for decades as the creation of Trump, as well as the addition of “the Truman balcony” in 1948 is linked to Truman.
“I’m making many improvements,” Trump said. “I will build a beautiful dance hall. They wanted it for many, many years.”
The White House published new details about the dance hall on Thursday, after the NBC interview with the president and monitoring questions raised by the network. Trump had chosen McCrery Architects as the main architect, according to the White House. And Trump has held meetings with members of the White House staff, the National Parks and others in recent weeks.
The officials will meet with the “appropriate organizations” to keep intact the “special history of the White House … while building a beautiful dance hall that future administrations and generations of Americans can enjoy to come,” said Susie Wiles, chief of staff of the White House, in a statement.
The private financing arrangement for the dance hall He worries at least one congressman. Representative Mark Pocan, D-Wisconsin, a member of the Chamber Assignments Panel that supervises the Executive Office of the Presidency, he said in an interview on Thursday: “It seems that he is trying to do this perhaps with private donations, but that could be a bit strange.”
“Is it going to be a white house dance hall sponsored by Carl’s Jr.?” Pocan asked rhetorically.
Given the magnitude of the project, Pocan said the president should bring the plan to the Congress for his discussion.
“This is an important renovation and should clearly come before the committee,” Pocan said. “This would fall under the definition of having adequate supervision. It is a perfectly excellent conversation to have a subcommittee meeting.”
The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer in New York, said at a press conference on Thursday that Congress has not assigned funds for the dance hall, saying: “Listen, I am happy to eat my hamburger with cheese on my desk. I don’t need a $ 200 million dance hall to eat it. Okay?”
A common impression may be that the White House is a frozen historical building in Amber, but has been rebuilt, renewed and renewed again and again since 1800, when John Adams became the first president to move.
In most cases, the presidents who undertook substantial renovations faced public recoil. In an essay published on LinkedIn in June, Stewart McLaurin, president of the Historical Association, documented the consequences in the last two centuries to “give context and establish precedents for more recent changes and adaptations.”
With the building about to collapse on his head, the then President Truman carried out a complete destroyed of the interior of the White House of 1948-52 to underpin the structure with steel and concrete beams.
“The conservationists cried the loss of original interiors, while the media questioned the cost of the project during postwar economic recovery,” McLaurin wrote.
The east wing, the space for the new dance hall, was attacked for criticism at the time of Roosevelt.
“The Republicans of Congress described spending as a waste, and some accused Roosevelt of using the project to reinforce the image of his presidency,” McLaurin wrote.
“However,” he wrote, “The utility of the east to support the modern presidency finally calmed critics. “
At this early stage of planning, the verdict on the vision of the Trump dance hall is mixed. Some White House students sympathized with Trump’s desire to make the complex more comfortable for visitors who often include heads of state.
Anita McBride, who was chief of staff of the first lady Laura Bush, told NBC News in an email: “I think it will be an improvement that will be welcome by future occupants.
Rufus Gifford, who was head of the United States Protocol at the Biden Administration, compared Trump’s renewal with a tenant who checked an apartment. He should not make such dramatic structural changes in the iconic building on his own, Gifford said.
“The American people are Trump’s owners at this time,” Gifford said.
Trump, the old builder, seems to be enjoying the return to its roots. Discussing his inclination to choose paintings to decorate the west wing, he said: “For me, it is a enjoyment; for other people, it is work.”
