Never Trumper Joe Walsh: "Any Democrat running for President in 2028 must pledge to tear down Trump's ballroom."

[BeyondGeography]

And Steve Schmidt spells out why this should be the single issue that unifies every part of the anti-Trump coalition:

?si=cQ6j-8Nf5J1c5p7h

[calimary]

1. Love it!

Last edited Sat Dec 6, 2025, 07:36 PM - Edit history (3)

As Steve Schmidt himself would say: “100%”.

[FadedMullet]

2. I've had this thought that every Democrat running in 2028 should treat the removal of Trump's idiotic ballroom as......

.......a given, a no brainer. "Of course we're going to tear it down and rebuild the East Wing. That is a necessity expected by the American people and we will do it. Call it a symbol of all the other Trumpian idiocies that we will undertake to correct if you want, but starting on day one, any and all Democrats will se this as "Job #1".

[MurrayDelph]

42. AND charge the costs back to Trump

since, as a tenant of the building, it was his responsibility for any damages to the property.

[chouchou]

3. I'd like to dig a 200 ft hole deep with the same width and length and just let it fall into the abyss.

We wouldn't have to haul the disgusting thing away. Just plant grass over it..

[LudwigPastorius]

37. They'd have to first dig out the Epstein-esque sex dungeon that Trump is having built underneath it.

You don't think those MAGA, high roller, big donors are going to fork over millions to Trump for just an evening of dancing, do you?

[chouchou]

39. Ah..Your words are logical and true.

[Red Mountain]

4. And pass laws to make sure no one person

can ever alter our national historic landscape again

[Mz Pip]

5. It's not a ballroom

It’s a f*cking throne room. Trump envisions himself swanning through the room, down a red carpet to the cheers and chants of his adoring minions.

[Gaugamela]

6. First we hold our equivalent of the Nuremberg trials there, then we tear it down.

[pecosbob]

7. It's on my litmus test...along with four more justices.

[tinrobot]

8. I'm going to bet that it won't get built.

Or if it is built, it will be so shoddy it falls down on it's own.

[CTyankee]

9. This reminds me of an old joke: what do tight pants and a cheap hotel have in common?

No ballroom!

[UTUSN]

10. K&R

[Ocelot II]

11. Yes!

If it ever gets built - and I have my doubts - it's got to go. The WH already has a perfectly good ballroom that's been used for social events since the middle of the 19th century; the only reason Krasnov wants this monstrosity is so he can slap fake gold all over it and hold court like he was Louis XIV at Versailles, with an audience of oligarchs offering him tribute. Tear it down and hold an exorcism over the ground where it stood before rebuilding the East Wing.

[blubunyip]

28. It should be torn down

Yes--the exorcism will be absolutely necessary.

[Xolodno]

12. I'm going to have to disagree.

For the same reason people say we should stop building HSR in California, its going to cost money to deconstruct what's there it and haul it away.

Furthermore, I don't think it will be finished in time and the next Democratic President can simply halt construction, finish it off more modestly as is and call it a day. They could even cordon off an area for offices.

[Boo1]

13. I don't care if it's finished entierly

bulldozers don't cost that much. Knock it over and haul it away.

Same goes for everything else he builds in that time.

[Katcat]

14. Finish it off modestly and call it

The Donald Trump Home For Kids and Women he has abused

[Emrys]

17. Charge Trump and his "investors" for doing it and rebuilding the East Wing as it was.

Or gut it and convert it into a prison for Trump and his accomplices with extensive displays setting out their crimes as a warning to current and future generations. Finance it by selling tickets so the public can tour it and point and laugh at the inmates or whatever else they want to do.

It needn't cost much. The decor could be very plain prison grey floor to ceiling, levels of comfort and cuisine could be as spartan as human rights laws allow, and no need for an exercise yard as there'd be no lifts or escalators.

And staff it with Somalis.

[markodochartaigh]

19. I agree, for different reasons.

I say leave the Epstein Ballroom up and turn into a museum of all of the abuses and corruption of the current regime. Other countries have kept such things as memorials so that their populations do not forget.

I absolutely believe that the US population will deny and forget everything within a decade.

[JCMach1]

21. Turn it into a museum and dedicate it We the People

Museum and entrance for WH tours.

[fujiyamasan]

23. No, Fuck his vanity project

I don’t care what it costs. Tear it down.

[blubunyip]

30. Agree

Repurposing it is missing the point. It's an abomination, a hideous symbol of the way this administration has erased and destroyed so much that was good. If you let any part of it stand, it holds the taint of King Pedo and his big FU to the American people. It deserves total erasure. And then a new East Wing can be built.

[mdbl]

15. There will be a lot to undo.

[Callie1979]

16. Doubt it'll be finished.

[LilElf70]

18. Not just the ballroom

ANYTHING he put his name on. Any racist rules he approved. IE MLK day at the parks, etc. The list goes on and on. Don't stop with just the ballroom. His name should never disgrace this country ever again.

[Squaredeal]

20. And those corporations who paid to build it should be required to tear it down.

This would tell the public how politically corrupt America corporations are.

[orleans]

36. they should be taxed. nt

[Paladin]

22. +1000. Tear down the ballroom...

...get rid of all the ugly, cheap-looking gold decorations, and re-plant Jackie Kennedy's garden. Eliminate as much trump ugliness as possible, and let this wounded nation have a fresh start.

[Bev54]

24. While that would be a good symbolic message, there is so many more important and immediate

steps to be taken to reverse Trump programs and executive orders.

[rickford66]

25. Yes. Everything he builds, should be torn down.

His name has to be removed from everything. All costs should be borne by the corporations and individuals who funded these un-American atrocities. Give him his 747 but remove the engines. Afterall, the aircraft at Presidential libraries are meant to be static displays.

[stopdiggin]

26. how stupifyingly infantile

Because this is of course the single most overriding issue confronting a new administration ...

Deliver us ... !!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[RandomNumbers]

41. I regret that I have but one rec to give your post.

Much more succinct than mine.

But I do think removing the stupid ballroom is important - due to its symbolism - BUT it will be, if we're lucky, around #3,456 on the list of things to be fixed from this horrific time.

[BeyondGeography]

44. And unlike those things, it can be done and dusted quickly

But since when didn’t Democrats turn a simple political proposition into a conundrum? The “ballroom” as presently conceived is an abomination that will dwarf the White House. It should be torn down even if it didn’t have Trump’s name on it. Tearing it down is more than just a simple physical act; it would symbolize a break with a horrid past and all its author stood for. And much would flow from that in terms of legislation and executive orders.

But no, say the “adults,” let’s focus uniquely on POLICY and nothing else. You know, bills that may or may not pass in a timely or desirable manner and the effects of which may or may not be felt in time for the next presidential election. Give folks that same-as-it-ever-was feeling with no tangible evidence to the contrary. Some people have learned absolutely nothing about politics in the last ten years.

[stopdiggin]

45. by all means let us do bread and circuses

And Steve Schmidt spells out why this should be the single issue that unifies every part of the anti-Trump coalition:

I'm not saying the ball room should not be reduced, reversed, removed ... Whatsits ...
So much that the quote given above is ...
A most stunning example of ...

The appallingly facile. Appallingly stupid. In a word, juvenile - embarrassing, unworthy. And much like ... Oh, yeah .. ! That other thing / person ... That roils our stomach ...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I understand what you say, old friend. It's just that I don't agree.

[AllaN01Bear]

27. ive been saying this for several weeks now .

[moreland01]

29. And remove

All trump portraits. Anything with his name or likeness, and that of his fetid family. Anything gold, gone. Anything that he added, gone. Anything that he removed gets put back. Fumigate the place..

[Raine]

31. 1st things 1st, get riid of that tacky garish "gold" crap

before anything else.

[BlueTsunami2018]

32. These people are idiots.

He builds the stupid ballroom, so what? What real effect does that have on anything that actually matters? Most people have no idea that’s even happening.

You know what they do see? High prices at the supermarket and everywhere else. These idiotic tariffs. The fact that wages aren’t keeping up with inflation while some asshole is about to become a fucking trillionaire!

We’re fighting a class war. That’s what Democrats should be running on. That’s what they should be talking about nonstop.

Fuck these Republicans. They aren’t our friends.

[DinahMoeHum]

33. Tear down the ballroom, rebuild the East Wing. . .

. . .and restore the Rose Garden back to its former glory.

[marble falls]

34. And restore the Rose Garden and developing law regards how and when the WH, Capital Bldg etc get altered.

[Midnight Writer]

35. I just hope he lives long enough to see his gilded ballroom razed to the ground.

[Joinfortmill]

38. If it ever gets built. Right now, it's rubble, like everything he touches.

[RandomNumbers]

40. Not necessarily the first priority

As ugly and horrible as it is - and YES, the process to remove this monument to horror MUST be put in motion - this is HARDLY the first thing a new US President will need to deal with.

If asked, I will be very happy for a Dem candidate to respond, "it will be on the list, for sure. But I can't promise WHERE on the list. There are many more harms that are more immediate for everyday Americans and safeguarding our future."

[stopdiggin]

46. but of course! as PART of a long (and profoundly depressing, but crucially necessary) LIST ...

Starting with perhaps some oversight and restructure of ICE, HHS, Justice .... A reinstatement of science .. ? Supreme Court .. ?

[Initech]

43. I don't think we will have to worry, because I'm guessing that stupid ballroom is never going to get built.

So instead we should pledge to restore the East Wing to its' former glory!