Chelsea Clinton says Trump taking ‘wrecking ball to our heritage’ with ballroom
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Chelsea Clinton blasted President Donald Trump in a new op-ed for having a “disregard for history” and taking a “wrecking ball to our heritage” with his extensive White House renovations, including tearing down the East Wing to construct a new ballroom.
“A disregard for history is a defining trait of President Trump’s second administration,” Clinton wrote for USA Today on Thursday, criticizing administration changes at the Smithsonian and the DEI censorship campaign at the Pentagon that ensnared the iconic Enola Gay plane.
Clinton, the daughter of President Bill Clinton, said she always understood the home didn’t belong to her. She moved into the White House with her parents in 1993, just shy of her 13th birthday, and began attending Stanford during her father’s second term.
The White House tore down part of the East Wing to build the ballroom President Donald Trump wants added to the building. (The Associated Press)
Other presidents have made changes or renovations to the White House, Clinton noted, but Trump’s changes have drawn considerable criticism, especially after demolition of a section of the East Wing began to begin construction of the privately funded, $250 million ballroom.
“Renovations aren’t inherently objectionable because of who orders them or who pays for them,” she wrote, while noting Trump has authority over the White House grounds as the president. “But authority is not the same as stewardship. Stewardship requires transparency, consultation and an accounting for history.”
Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton. (JP Yim / Getty )
“This is what happens when we take a wrecking ball to our heritage,” Clinton wrote.
Clinton’s article and X post went viral, with conservative critics reminding her of the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal and other uncomfortable moments from her family’s White House tenure.
“Your dad turned the White House into his own personal Burning Man tent, and we all get it,” one conservative commentator wrote.
“I’m sorry, but of all the people I want to hear from least on the subject of desecrating the White House, it’s anyone with the surname Clinton,” another wrote.
The ballroom has certainly struck a nerve in the Clinton family.
TRUMP BREAKS GROUND ON MASSIVE WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM PROJECT WITH PRIVATE FUNDING FROM ‘PATRIOTS’
Clinton’s mother, former first lady Hillary Clinton, posted on X this week, “It’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.” A New York Times article called the images of the demolition “jarring,” and historical preservationists have also balked at the changes in media reports.
President Donald Trump has enthusiastically touted the construction of a new ballroom at the White House. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News this week there was a lot of “fake outrage” about the ballroom.
“Nearly every single president who’s lived in this beautiful White House behind me has made modernizations and renovations of their own,” Leavitt said. “In fact, presidents for decades — in modern times — have joked about how they wished they had a larger event space here at the White House, something that could hold hundreds more people than the current East Room and State Dining Room.”
Trump told reporters it would be “world-class” and has said it will be paid for by himself and a host of corporate sponsors.
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The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
