{"id":338795,"date":"2026-09-05T13:06:37","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T13:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/338795\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T13:06:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T13:06:37","slug":"trump-says-his-ballroom-will-be-built-with-nuclear-concrete-so-democrats-cant-tear-it-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/338795\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump says his ballroom will be built with \u2018nuclear concrete\u2019 so Democrats can\u2019t tear it down"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 President Trump<\/a> is trying to cement his legacy \u2014 literally.<\/p>\n

The commander in chief claims he is building the new White House ballroom to be so strong<\/a> that whichever Democrat takes office after him won\u2019t be able to tear it down.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think they could, physically,\u201d the president told New York Magazine<\/a> in an interview published Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s made with the most powerful steel welded together and concrete that is so hard and so strong it\u2019s used in nuclear power plants,\u201d Trump said. \u201cYou could take a jackhammer and go to those columns and stand there for two days at full blast and you wouldn\u2019t even see a mark. It\u2019s nuclear concrete. I think it would be very hard. It\u2019s meant for if there\u2019s a nuclear attack. I\u2019m not sure you could take it down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Construction of the new ballroom (at right) continues at the White House Getty Images<\/p>\n

Trump wants it built so strong that it cannot be torn down. Will Oliver \u2013 Pool via CNP\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

The controversial project \u2014 meant to include a finished grand staircase, movie theater, and\u00a0kitchen \u2014 is nearly halfway done and work is proceeding apace after the Supreme Court gave the green light last week.<\/p>\n

Democrats have cited the $400 million undertaking as proof that Trump is fundamentally out of touch with average Americans\u2019 concerns, and even some Republicans worry that the optics will cost the party in the November midterms.<\/p>\n

A Washington Post\/Ipsos poll <\/a>released in July found 65% of those surveyed said they were \u201cupset\u201d or \u201cdissatisfied\u201d with the ballroom project, as well as the president\u2019s other plans for the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

If Democrats win back control of the House, as they are favored to do, they are likely to launch an investigation of the ballroom project as one of many lines of inquiry into the Trump administration, with some lawmakers arguing that private donations used to pay for construction amounted to a \u201cpay for play\u201d scheme.<\/p>\n

Many donors expect to be hauled before congressional committees to explain themselves sometime after January 2027.<\/p>\n

However, other Democrats worry their candidates might fall into the same trap of focusing on the ballroom and not enough time talking about the cost of living.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy knee-jerk reaction is that Democrats have bigger fish to fry than the ballroom,\u201d former Barack Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor, now a co-host of \u201cPod Save America,\u201d told New York. \u201cBut I\u2019m probably 100% wrong on the politics and we\u2019ll end up spending half of the 2028 primary debating the best demolition techniques.\u201d<\/p>\n

Construction workers stand at the site of the White House ballroom. REUTERS<\/p>\n

Trump, who got his start in NYC\u2019s real estate scene, said he wants to leave a physical legacy, bit by bit.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people said, \u2018Don\u2019t do this interview.\u2019 But I\u2019m proud of the work I\u2019m doing,\u201d he told the outlet after giving a tour of the ballroom site. <\/p>\n

The president reportedly starts and ends his day checking in on the ballroom, construction of which he can watch from his bedroom window in the executive mansion.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will call me at 9:30 at night and say, \u2018I\u2019m going to walk over and check the construction of the new ballroom,\u2019\u201d said first son Eric Trump, who added his father is having \u201cmore fun building this ballroom than I can possibly tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather than distracting from his official duties, White House staff insist inspecting the ballroom represents an unusual way for the president to recharge his batteries.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis routine is construction,\u201d one former staffer told New York. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t work out. This is his thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Trump is focused on building his legacy. Al Drago\/POOL via CNP\/INSTARimages.com<\/p>\n

Since regaining office in January 2025, Trump has overseen a renovation of the White House Rose Garden, the addition of a helipad to the South Lawn, attempted to refurbish the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, added his name to the Kennedy Center, and signed off on constructuon of a large triumphal arch outside of Arlington National Cemetery.<\/a> <\/p>\n

The estimated cost of all this runs close to a billion, much of which, according to Trump, is being paid for by private donations.<\/p>\n

According to New York, part of the 45th and 47th president\u2019s obsession with changing the face of Washington stems from a deep belief that no one will name anything after him when he\u2019s gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should,\u201d Trump told the outlet when asked if the ballroom will bear his name. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it will, but it should.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 President Trump is trying to cement his legacy \u2014 literally. The commander in chief claims he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1527,2132,153,46937,9,11,10,87,58,8093,5561],"class_list":["post-338795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-construction","tag-democrats","tag-donald-trump","tag-midterm-elections-2026","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-politics","tag-us-news","tag-washington-dc","tag-white-house"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}