WASHINGTON — President Trump defended his White House renovations during a time of economic turmoil as necessary for keeping the 233-year old building upright, claiming in a new interview that the executive mansion was “actually dangerous.”
“It was just a disgraceful dump. The doors were falling off. The locks were broken. And I said, ‘I got to fix it.’ And I do that better than anybody else,” the president told Time magazine of his work.
Trump also told his interviewers that the Secret Service wanted to tear down the Oval Office, although he didn’t explain why.
“I see the Secret Service looking, and I say, ‘What are you guys looking at?’ ‘Sir, we think the Oval Office should be taken down, and we’ll build a new one, sir.’ I said, ‘My a–, you can’t build a new one. This is a special place,’” he recounted.
Trump further revealed he’s been asking White House chief of staff Susie Wiles about the possibility of making the presidential office a national historic landmark.
The president repeatedly defended his actions during the 75-minute interview, at one point having an aide fetch old photos of the White House so he could point out where it needed to be repaired.
“The place was in terrible shape. I made it beautiful,” he said.
The Oval Office is one of many areas of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue that Trump has remade to his liking. The presidential office has been gilded in gold and the walls covered in painted portraits. The president also turned the Rose Garden into a replica of the patio at Mar-a-Lago, complete with a concrete floor and tables with yellow umbrellas, where he holds regular dinners with supporters in the “Rose Garden Club.” The colonnade surrounding the garden was remade into the Presidential Walk of Fame, featuring portraits of 44 of Trump’s predecessors and an autopen.
In the most ambitious and controversial project, the president tore down the East Wing to replace it with a 90,000 square foot ballroom. The five-story building will include an updated military command center, a hospital, office space and a drone port, while Trump also told Time that one side of the ballroom will be made entirely of glass six to eight inches thick.
“The steel goes up next week,” he said of the work, which is expected to be completed in August 2027.
Trump has also built a new granite helipad on the South Lawn — designed to hold the heavier weight of the new Marine One chopper, which he said had “ripped the s— out of the grass.”
“It’s easy for me,” Trump, who got his start in New York real estate, described his projects. “It’s actually relaxing. You know, for a lot of people, it drives them crazy. For me, it’s relaxing.”
The president has also justified his renovation work by insisting that US taxpayers are not on the hook for the costs.The $400 million ballroom was paid for by private donations and the $10 million cost of the helipad was covered by Lockheed Martin, which built the Sikorsky VH-92A Patriot that serves as Marine One.
“I pay for a lot of it, but I fix it because the White House should look like that. It shouldn’t look like—if you would have stood in that balcony and looked at that wall, half the wall was falling,” Trump ranted late in the sitdown. “It’s actually dangerous. People are walking under, crap was falling off it all the time. Every time it rained, it was leaking, horrible. Now it’s perfect.”
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has sued over the ballroom construction but the Supreme Court said work could continue as the case makes its way through the legal system.
Trump also declined to rule out tearing down the Kennedy Center, with his plans for the performing arts center subject to a lawsuit claiming he needs permission from Congress to make any changes.
“It’s in terrible shape. I’d be willing to save it, but it’s in terrible, terrible shape. Only I can save it,” he told Time.
“I’m a really good builder. I can fix it. I can fix it. And I’m also real rich where I can — and I have influence where I can put up money and I can also raise money. But we’re talking about $60 to $125 million a year,” Trump added.
Trump’s lawyers recently warned the center could be torn down if the president isn’t allowed to move forward with his renovation plans — including adding his name to the building — alleging the building is in disrepair.
“I’m not committing to anything. We’re going to see how it plays out in court,” the president said. “But if I build it … then I think the Trump Administration should be recognized.”
The Kennedy Center is one of many areas of Washington, DC the president has remade — including Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House; and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Trump also wants to build a victory arch between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
“It’s what I do best,” he said. “I say, am I a better builder or a politician?”
