Trump justifies East Wing demolition as his ‘greatest strength’ lies in building ballrooms

WASHINGTON, DC: In a segment of 'The Ingraham Angle' on Tuesday, November 11, President Donald Trump showcased new additions at the White House and declared his “greatest strength” is building ballrooms. 

He walked the show’s host through renovations and shared his vision of what’s next.

Trump’s ballroom plans

In the first segment of his interview with Laura Ingraham, Trump claimed that talk of rising prices is “a con job by the Democrats.”

Later in the show, the host joined him for a tour of his newly created “Presidential Walk of Fame,” featuring portraits of all US presidents in chronological order.

When Ingraham asked whose idea the portrait gallery was, Trump replied, “My idea. Everything’s my idea.” Ingraham then questioned why former President Joe Biden’s portrait was missing, to which "Trump pointed out that the display features a picture of an autopen instead of a photo of Biden."

He then labelled Biden “the worst president in the history of our country,” and placed former President Barack Obama in his “top five” for bad. 

She then accompanied him to a large marble room and revealed his plan to build a large ballroom on the site of the old East Wing of the White House, which he said he completely demolished last month. 

“This is the equivalent of what I’d do with the ballroom,” he told Ingraham.

“I’ve built many ballrooms in many buildings. And that’s my greatest strength, actually. I might as well do this. So, this room was in terrible shape. This was done by Jackie Kennedy. Jackie Kennedy Onassis, then Jackie Kennedy, I hope,” he said.

Trump justifies East Wing demolition

Trump also admitted that he did not need to tear down the East Wing of the White House in order to build his ballroom. 

He told host Laura Ingraham that he knocked it down because it “looked like hell.” Reflecting on the structure, he further added, “It was a poor, sad sight, and I could’ve built the ballroom around it."

The host also asked him about former first lady Michelle Obama’s criticism of the East Wing’s destruction.

Replying to the criticism, he said “First of all, the East Wing was a beautiful little, tiny structure that was built many years ago, that was renovated and expanded and disbanded and columns ripped out. It had nothing to do with the original building.”

Ingraham then asked about reports that Melania Trump, who had her office in the East Wing, also “didn’t love this idea. Is that true?” Trump replied “She loved her little, tiny office, but you know what? She’s very smart. In about one day, she if you would ask her now, she says it’s great.”

Trump concluded he didn’t want to “sacrifice a great ballroom for an OK ballroom by leaving it right smack in the middle,” claiming that it would of course be “one of the greatest ballrooms in the world and the White House will finally have, after 150 years, the ballroom that they wanted."