WASHINGTON — President Trump is trying to cement his legacy — literally.
The commander in chief claims he is building the new White House ballroom to be so strong that whichever Democrat takes office after him won’t be able to tear it down.
“I don’t think they could, physically,” the president told New York Magazine in an interview published Friday.
“It’s made with the most powerful steel welded together and concrete that is so hard and so strong it’s used in nuclear power plants,” Trump said. “You could take a jackhammer and go to those columns and stand there for two days at full blast and you wouldn’t even see a mark. It’s nuclear concrete. I think it would be very hard. It’s meant for if there’s a nuclear attack. I’m not sure you could take it down.”
The controversial project — meant to include a finished grand staircase, movie theater, and kitchen — is nearly halfway done and work is proceeding apace after the Supreme Court gave the green light last week.
Democrats have cited the $400 million undertaking as proof that Trump is fundamentally out of touch with average Americans’ concerns, and even some Republicans worry that the optics will cost the party in the November midterms.
A Washington Post/Ipsos poll released in July found 65% of those surveyed said they were “upset” or “dissatisfied” with the ballroom project, as well as the president’s other plans for the nation’s capital.
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 “pay for play” scheme.
Many donors expect to be hauled before congressional committees to explain themselves sometime after January 2027.
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.
“My knee-jerk reaction is that Democrats have bigger fish to fry than the ballroom,” former Barack Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor, now a co-host of “Pod Save America,” told New York. “But I’m probably 100% wrong on the politics and we’ll end up spending half of the 2028 primary debating the best demolition techniques.”
Trump, who got his start in NYC’s real estate scene, said he wants to leave a physical legacy, bit by bit.
“A lot of people said, ‘Don’t do this interview.’ But I’m proud of the work I’m doing,” he told the outlet after giving a tour of the ballroom site.
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.
“He will call me at 9:30 at night and say, ‘I’m going to walk over and check the construction of the new ballroom,’” said first son Eric Trump, who added his father is having “more fun building this ballroom than I can possibly tell you.”
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.
“His routine is construction,” one former staffer told New York. “He doesn’t work out. This is his thing.”
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.
The estimated cost of all this runs close to a billion, much of which, according to Trump, is being paid for by private donations.
According to New York, part of the 45th and 47th president’s obsession with changing the face of Washington stems from a deep belief that no one will name anything after him when he’s gone.
“It should,” Trump told the outlet when asked if the ballroom will bear his name. “I don’t know if it will, but it should.”
