Chelsea Clinton blasts Trump over White House demolition: ‘He’s wrecking the People’s House’
The erasure of the East Wing isn't just about marble or plaster — it's about President Trump again taking a wrecking ball to our heritage, while targeting our democracy, and the rule-of-law.
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) October 23, 2025
My piece in @USATODAY: https://t.co/4nwSllGIGR
WASHINGTON, DC: Chelsea Clinton sharply criticized President Donald Trump for what she called a “disregard for history” following major renovations to the White House, including the reported demolition of the East Wing and the transformation of the Rose Garden into what critics have dubbed “The Rose Garden Club at the White House.”
In an essay published Thursday, October 23, Clinton, 45, described Trump’s actions as “wrecking the People’s House,” saying the president’s sweeping renovations have stripped the historic residence of its identity and erased generations of American heritage.
“What was dismantled today isn’t just marble or plaster; it is a reflection of how easily history can be erased when power forgets purpose,” she wrote.
Chelsea Clinton says White House ‘belongs to the American people’
Reflecting on her childhood inside the executive mansion, Chelsea Clinton said she never considered the White House her family’s property.
“Although I spent many of my formative years living in the White House, I always knew it wasn’t my house. It was my home, absolutely, but not my house. The White House belongs to the American people, and that’s why we call it the People’s House,” she wrote.
Clinton recounted how first lady Barbara Bush had welcomed her and her mother, Hillary Clinton, for a tour in 1993. “Eight years later, my family would welcome the Bush family back,” she said, recalling how both families understood that “we are all merely passing through, even while our parents were shaping American history.”
Chelsea Clinton condemns Trump for altering Rose Garden, East Wing
The former first daughter expressed alarm over reports that Trump’s team had paved over the Rose Garden and demolished large portions of the East Wing to build a ballroom.
“It is unsettling that such substantial alterations to the 225-year-old People’s House are being undertaken without a historic-preservation review and seemingly without the involvement of any historians,” she said.
Clinton contrasted Trump’s approach with that of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, who famously restored the White House with the help of preservationists and historians. “When Mrs. Kennedy restored and renovated the White House and Rose Garden, she did so with historians, landscape architects, and preservation experts,” Clinton wrote.
Chelsea Clinton accuses Trump of erasing America’s history
Chelsea Clinton also accused the Trump administration of censoring or deleting key parts of American history from federal institutions and websites. “Reports indicate he has directed the Smithsonian Institution and the National Park Service to censor exhibits and erase mentions of slavery and the treatment of Native Americans,” she wrote.
She cited one particularly “embarrassing” example in which the Department of War, formerly the Department of Defense, removed all references to the ‘Enola Gay,’ the aircraft that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, after an automated system deleted the word “gay.”
“This is what happens when we take a wrecking ball to our heritage,” Clinton warned, adding that such disregard for history “grows from the same source of disregard for our founding ideals.”
While acknowledging that presidents have the authority to make changes to the White House, Chelsea Clinton said leadership also demands accountability. “Authority is not the same as stewardship. Stewardship requires transparency, consultation, and an accounting for history,” she wrote.
