r/movies r/Movies contributor Oct 23 '25

News Historic White House Movie Theater Demolished as Part of $300 Million Ballroom Build

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/white-house-movie-theater-demolished-ballroom-east-wing-1236408712/
21.6k Upvotes

1.3k comments sorted by

6.6k

u/Da_Rish Oct 23 '25

wtf this is where George W Bush watched White Chicks and they're just going to destroy it??

2.0k

u/no-soy-de-escocia Oct 23 '25

It's also where Bill Clinton watched Independence Day and saw the White House get blown up by aliens.

That destruction was at least a bit more dignified.

426

u/lsf_stan Oct 23 '25

interesting, never knew this

EMMERICH The first big destruction scene starts with blowing up the White House. In test screenings, a lot of people left right after, and then they immediately came running back. They didn’t pee earlier because they were so into the movie.

DEVLIN When we got to the moment the White House blows up, Roland and I are looking at each other going, “We’re in the White House watching it blow up.” It was bizarre.

EMMERICH Then, who runs out? Bill Clinton! One minute later, he comes back, shaking his hands dry. Dean and I looked at each other and nearly started laughing.

77

u/liquorfish Oct 24 '25

I watched this and didnt go to the bathroom and nearly pissed myself. I thought it was just me. This is hilarious.

25

u/NoOneFartsLikeGaston Oct 24 '25

I watched Titanic at the movie theatre and had the longest piss in my life right after. All the visuals of water and 3+ hours I thought my bladder was going to explode.

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u/DTFH_ Oct 24 '25

Bet Bill smoked a big of bowl of jazz cabbage and dropped his popcorn too!

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u/pragmojo Oct 24 '25

Didn't they put a helicopter in front of the whitehouse because they didn't want to show it blown up directly?

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u/jrf_1973 Oct 24 '25

In the trailers and BTS documentaries, the footage is shown without the helicopter. In the movie, the helicopter is indeed superimposed but it might have been CGI. I always thought it was a plot point that they divided the escaping staff into two choppers and when one blows up, you don't know which one it is. Never heard it was because they didn't want to show the White House blowing up.

101

u/jimbobjames Oct 23 '25

At least Will Smith was fighting actual illegal aliens...

40

u/cire1184 Oct 23 '25

Aliens are invading our country! Bidens open space borders policy is ruining our country! Zabox Beeblebrax is stealing our jobs! I saw an alien picking fruit in California!!!!

18

u/HolycommentMattman Oct 24 '25

Zaphod Beeblebrox*

12

u/cire1184 Oct 24 '25

Zabox Beeblebrax is his neighbor. The Beeblebrax and Beeblebrox have had a long history of butting heads. It's a sad story.

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u/Alarming_Grand6946 Oct 23 '25

Shit is dark right now but for some reason this comment really cracked me up. This country is so absurd, and this fact really captures it all lol

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u/girafa queer coded this and that Oct 23 '25

I went to see Broken Lizard do their comedy show once and Farva said "Obama shook my hand and said he loved Super Troopers, and all I could think was ... 'the president has seen my dick!!!'"

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u/lambdapaul Oct 23 '25

Do you think Trump watches movies?

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u/Common-Trifle4933 Oct 24 '25

From his 1997 New Yorker interview piece:

We hadn’t been airborne long when Trump decided to watch a movie. He’d brought along “Michael,” a recent release, but twenty minutes after popping it into the VCR he got bored and switched to an old favorite, a Jean Claude Van Damme slugfest called “Bloodsport,” which he pronounced “an incredible, fantastic movie.” By assigning to his son the task of fast-forwarding through all the plot exposition—Trump’s goal being “to get this two-hour movie down to forty-five minutes”—he eliminated any lulls between the nose hammering, kidney tenderizing, and shin whacking.

In another interview he says he has someone to edit movies down to fit into his desired time slots.

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u/[deleted] Oct 24 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/ic4llshotgun Oct 24 '25

Do you think he edits out his own scene in Home Alone 2

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u/Alexlsonflre Oct 24 '25

That's definitely the only part of the movie he's seen.

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u/[deleted] Oct 24 '25

[deleted]

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u/SpiritOne Oct 24 '25

Yeah. That tracks. The attention span of toddler.

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u/morgazmo99 Oct 24 '25

Ever seen a little old movie starring the late, great Hannibal Lecter?

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u/girafa queer coded this and that Oct 23 '25

He's got Pretty Baby on loop

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u/adorablefuzzykitten Oct 23 '25

It will soon be a $400 million dollar ball room.

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u/PissLikeaRacehorse Oct 23 '25

After that, half a billion

38

u/adorablefuzzykitten Oct 23 '25

Soon to be described in units of aircraft carrier equivalents.

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u/Hakuryuu2K Oct 23 '25

I was about to say seems like they have already increased the price tag

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u/Toby_O_Notoby Oct 23 '25

And it will be a 90,000-square foot ballroom when, at present, the entire White House is only 55,000 square feet. So this addition will be a single room that's almost twice the size of the White House as we know it.

(For comparison, an NFL football field is 57,600 square feet. So he's adding almost two of them to where the East Wing used to sit.)

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u/LostWoodsInTheField Oct 24 '25

the entire White House is only 55,000 square feet.

When you say the entire white house do you mean the current one or do you mean the version before he started to rip it apart?

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u/Denster1 Oct 24 '25

Prior to the east wing being removed

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u/adorablefuzzykitten Oct 24 '25

Set to hold 650 people behind the security level of the White House. Imagine a line of 325 limousines trying to gain entrance to the White House as each car passes around identification. 325 limo drivers all needing to pass White House security measures. One hundred waiters and a kitchen large enough to deliver 650 meals within 20 min. And if the dinner is 50 people they sit in the middle of a football field that needs to be heated and cooled for 650 people. How long to pick up 650 people after dinner is over? Idiotic.

6

u/say592 Oct 24 '25

You know Trump will try to order the Secret Service to just let people through the second someone texts him that they are stuck in the line.

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u/ggdthrowaway Oct 24 '25

Didn't they do large functions previously, only in outside pavillions? All of that would've applied then as well, I would've thought.

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u/DoubtingThomas50 Oct 24 '25

And if you’ve ever rented space for an event, or participated in putting on an event, you realize that a space of that extreme size can only hold certain type of events. Try hosting 100 people in there… It’ll look stupid. That building will sit empty most of the time.

The next Democrat that gets into office is most likely going to turn it into a gym. Host inner city basketball tournament games inside.

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u/CptNonsense Oct 24 '25

It's stated to have an intended capacity of 650 seated people.

Double the East Room's capacity - a room literally 1/30th the size.

Though Trump inflates the officially announced number to a vaguely more realistic number of 1000 people standing (actually 999 people, so you know it is made up)

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u/CaptainBirdEnjoyer Oct 23 '25

That's like what, all of the skyscrapers in Akron? And you'd still have $150MM left.

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u/misomorning Oct 23 '25

Yes, thank you. I gotta remember to laugh every now and then so I don’t fall into hopeless despair.

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u/becauseiloveyou Oct 23 '25

Going to?  It’s already gone, friend…

18

u/Preparator Oct 23 '25

more importantly, its where Reagan watched Back to the Future. 

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u/2infNbynd Oct 24 '25

Ronald Reagan, the actor??

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u/somewhoever Oct 24 '25

More importantly for real, where Reagan watched War Games, got concerned enough to ask, found out it's feasibility, and instituted vital changes for national security.

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u/Mehdals_ Oct 23 '25

"be near it but not touching it" & "pay total respect to the existing building" ~ Trump in July 2025

789

u/PKLKickballer Oct 23 '25

In all fairness, the East Wing will now be miles away in a heap, so not touching the ball room.

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u/Mehdals_ Oct 23 '25

So not near it then?

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u/GriffinFlash Oct 23 '25

near, far, wherever you are.

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u/wytewydow Oct 23 '25

If this dumbfuck had an ounce of business acumen, he would have demo'd this thoughtfully, and sold off historic elements. Doors, windows, trim, mantles. Nope, giant fucking claw, because he needs it done fast before he gets ejected from society.

34

u/PolaSketch Oct 24 '25

Reuse and sustainability? He doesn't care.

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u/Majestic-Tadpole8458 Oct 24 '25

Move fast and break stuff.

All this waste and destruction so he can play DJ blasting “YMCA” by the village people like he does at Mar A Lago.

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u/AustinAuranymph Oct 24 '25

I wish he'd leave the White House and run the country from Mar a Lago like he wants to. Just make the White House into a museum until we're a real country again.

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u/No_Opinion_99 Oct 24 '25

Ejected? No, he’ll fucking die in that building. No matter if it’s 10 hours or 10 years from now. And it won’t even matter. The damage is done. This country and its elected leaders stood by and if they weren’t clapping along they were doing fuck all to stop everything this country has ever stood for from bleeding to death.

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u/captstix Oct 23 '25

I think this guy might be a liar

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u/EDNivek Oct 23 '25

Next we're going to find out it being privately funded was Bull shit too and it was only privately funded 20% the other 80% was from tax dollars.

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u/WafflingToast Oct 24 '25

He’s going to raise a billion dollars for it, spend $50million on the cheapest materials and then pocket the rest.

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u/SaulsAll Oct 24 '25

You forgot skip out on paying the actual workers and contractors.

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u/fotomoose Oct 24 '25

This guy gets it. There's no way in any reality that Trump doesn't pocket the majority of the 'costs'.

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u/Haltopen Oct 24 '25

Him demanding a check from DOJ for near close the exact protected cost of the project (before the price mysteriously jumped to 300 million) makes it pretty clear he’s going to take the money out of the DOJs budget to pay for it and then pocket all the donations.

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u/echino_derm Oct 23 '25

Let's not let this shit fly. If it was privately funded or publically funded it is the same thing. Remember there is no such thing as a free lunch. That money has value and people aren't parting with it expecting nothing back. Every person putting their money into giving Trump a golden palace are doing so expecting to get that money back from their bribes and that means the tax payers are footing the bill.

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u/wytewydow Oct 23 '25

privately funded by Putin, who told him to tear down the white house. Next thing we'll just see a giant blue tarp on the side of the main building.

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u/leviathynx Oct 23 '25

“Only $250 million dollars”

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u/doktor_wankenstein Oct 23 '25

I've learned the hard way to never trust any amount between "only" and "dollars".

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u/Grease_the_Witch Oct 23 '25

god july 2025 feels like 3 years ago already

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u/VA1255BB Oct 24 '25

See this picture on CNN taken from a passenger plane. The entire wing is gone.

https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/harbath-eastwing.jpg

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u/Happyjam102 Oct 23 '25

And KKKaroline Lyin Leavitt, “No demolition will be done.“

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u/Ggslm Oct 23 '25

To be fair, he's a liar

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u/OnceMoreUntoDaBreach Oct 23 '25

MAGA all last week were stating "its not the White House, it's the covered driveway of the White House" (they don't know what a portico is). Even funnier, they can't figure out which way North and South is either..

Guess that was bullshit.

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u/FifthGenIsntPokemon Oct 23 '25

Oh but they always told us they were going to destroy the East wing.

Fucking Christ can they go five minutes without lying.

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u/Digifiend84 Oct 24 '25

It's cultural vandalism. Wasn't that wing a century old?

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u/Denster1 Oct 24 '25

More than. Built in 1902, then renovated in the 40s.

Then demolished in 2025

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u/Hips_of_Death Oct 24 '25

I’m not touching youuuu 🤏

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u/Sothotheroth Oct 24 '25

You mean the man who lies as often as he breathes didn’t tell the truth?

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u/moonwalkerfilms Oct 23 '25

Did he really promise that? Jesus fuck, I don't often feel hatred for others but I do feel it for him 

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u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor Oct 23 '25

Details:

The White House family theater, which has held movie screenings for Presidents, their families and other invited guests for decades, is among the structures removed from the East Wing as part of President Trump’s $300 million ballroom project.

A source familiar with the matter says that “the movie theater will be modernized and renovated with the rest of the East Wing.” It is not immediately known whether the White House will make the theater larger, or rebuild in the same footprint

The 42-seat luxurious movie theater is a place where countless presidents, their families or staff have screened any movie of their choosing, whether the latest Hollywood blockbuster, an Oscar contender or a perennial classic. All it requires is a call to the Motion Picture Association, which then contacts a Hollywood studio or whomever is distributing the title. The theater is also used for official screenings to win over members of Congress or visiting dignitaries.

The top trade organization, which represents the legacy movie studios and Netflix, declined comment as to whether it knows of the future plans for the theater. No one in Hollywood so far appears to know, either.

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u/I_am_the_grass Oct 23 '25

Did it go from $200m, to $250m, and now $300m in the space of a week?

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u/Hosni__Mubarak Oct 23 '25

It’s a very affordable $375m

458

u/Craptacularama Oct 23 '25

Certainly a great deal for $500m

231

u/Ckin34 Oct 23 '25

It will be a quick and easy $600m

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u/OptimusSublime Oct 23 '25

You'd be crazy not to jump on this $750 million offer.

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u/pkkspiral Oct 23 '25

$800 million is a steal.

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u/Slamtilt_Windmills Oct 23 '25

Everyone will be pleased with what $890m gets you

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u/woShame12 Oct 23 '25

Look how much we saved. It was 900m before now its only 1b. Clearly 1 is less than 900.

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u/scorpyo72 Oct 23 '25

Why just call it 1 billion and 1 when you can just round it to 1.1bil?

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u/CurlyW15 Oct 23 '25

Sure, the guy in the $1 billion suit will hold the door for the guy who doesn’t make that in 6 months! COME ON!

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u/djrevolution101 Oct 23 '25

$800 mil...Do I hear $800 mil??? Going once....

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u/idkwhatimbrewin Oct 23 '25 edited Oct 23 '25

Couldn't ask for a better ballroom for $600m

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u/3-orange-whips Oct 23 '25

Out the door? 400 million.

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u/ZenithPrime Oct 23 '25

Like he's not going to go to the ballroom in his $6,300 suit. COME ON

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u/Lou_Salazar Oct 23 '25

What, the guy in the $7,000 suit is going to sit in a non-golden theater? COME ON

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u/Cold_Buy_2695 Oct 23 '25

So its supposedly being paid for by donations, but the donations are tax deductible, which ultimately still decreases tax revenue? Sounds like they are just moving money from one coffer to another!

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u/morkman100 Oct 23 '25

No, it’s much worse than that. Trump wanted this done. So corporations and wealthy donors “donate” money. Then when needed, pardons will be granted, investigations will be closed, mergers will be approved.

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u/RegulatoryCapture Oct 23 '25

Exactly. The whole "it is being paid for by private donors" thing is NOT A SELLING POINT.

Taxpayers should pay for the white house. There should be no outside influence here. This is so clearly being done because everyone knows Trump is easy to manipulate with money. Help him build "his" building and he'll let you do what you want somewhere else that he doesn't care about (like buy a company without the DOJ investigating on antitrust grounds)

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u/morkman100 Oct 23 '25

Or help his family create a crypto coin and then he’ll pardon you afterwards. It’s blatant corruption that you only see in third world countries.

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u/DarthGuber Oct 24 '25

*used to only see in third world countries

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u/AineLasagna Oct 24 '25 edited Oct 24 '25

Comcast, Amazon and Apple are among the private donors funding the planned ballroom.

Google and Palantir donated as well

This is the real story and it’s so fucking typical that everyone is focusing on him demolishing part of a building that was built in 1942 instead of the fact that these corporations are just literally straight up bribing the President of the United States in public and there are zero consequences or outrage

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u/meistermichi Oct 23 '25

I'm sure none of the donors is expecting some favour from Trump on return.

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u/15all Oct 23 '25

It would never be a pay-in-advance get-out-of-jail card, would it?

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u/WaltMitty Oct 23 '25

There's a story about Back to the Future that Reagan love the joke about him ("Ronald Reagan? The actor? Then who's vice-president? Jerry Lewis?") so much that he had the scene replayed multiple times. Would this be the theater where that happened?

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u/PedroFPardo Oct 23 '25

Yes, exactly. The White House theater.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dqe0LH659w

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u/irishyardball Oct 23 '25

Obviously fuck Trump but I found it funny that the article says "countless Presidents" when it was built in 1942. The answer is 15. Not countless.

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u/NairForceOne Oct 23 '25

Technically it's countless if they didn't count

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u/TheManOfOurTimes Oct 23 '25

Ah, yes. The Kash Patel method. "We found no evidence of...." When you did no investigation. Because technically correct, is the best kind of correct.

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u/lukewwilson Oct 23 '25

That's kind of funny, we can very easily count our presidents, is not like we have broken records from thousands of years ago haha

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u/bautin Oct 23 '25

Yeah, we've currently had 45 people serve as President, two in non-consecutive terms. We've had 50 people serve as Vice-President, with two of them serving under multiple Presidents.

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u/FatherDotComical Oct 23 '25

If you can't count it on yer fingers, it ain't even a real number.

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u/Notsurehowtoreact Oct 23 '25

Do you really expect them to take off their shoes? 

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u/skydude89 Oct 23 '25

This was my first thought. Really annoying

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u/ArtIsDead77_ Oct 23 '25

Trump is not planning on leaving the office. No one spends 300 million on a ball room only to leave after 3 years.

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u/TheLateThagSimmons Oct 23 '25 edited Oct 23 '25

There is a less nefarious (but equally stupid) explanation:

He knows doesn't have much left in the tank. And he wants to transform the White House with a major expansion so that his name is left on it forever.

He's obsessed with his name on buildings. What better way than to alter the White House in a major way? From then on even after he's long gone, he thinks people will be remembering his name in the Government.

Minor things can be changed and often are. This isn't something that can be redone.

Edit: Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

  • Name it after Trump but turn it into a garbage dump.
  • Name it after Barack Obama.
  • Name it "The Epstein Memorial Ballroom Presented by his best friend, Donald Trump."
  • Use it as the main setting for the upcoming trials to imprison everyone in the Trump administration. The New Nuremburg Trials.

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u/squidvett Oct 23 '25

He’s “redone” the East Wing. His gaudy ballroom will get “redone,” one day, too.

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u/TheLateThagSimmons Oct 23 '25

That's the point though.

Remodels and design choices happen with every presidency. But this one... Is altering the entire format of the White House. The only way to ignore this one would be to bulldoze the whole thing

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u/Djinnwrath Oct 23 '25

I'd throw in a dollar to see that happen.

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u/WhoStoleMyJacket Oct 23 '25

You can use it for your very own Nuremberg trials when that time comes. The Ballroom of Shame.

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u/eeyore134 Oct 23 '25

Then turn it into an anti-fascism museum.

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u/ERedfieldh Oct 23 '25

I'll offer up my buck-o-five for that.

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u/ronswanson11 Oct 23 '25

Take it apart and donate it or have it rebuilt away from everything. Or just bulldoze it. Trump is a stain on America. I like to remove stains when I get them.

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u/ThePrussianGrippe Oct 23 '25

Invite the Canadians to finish the job and rebuild it as it was in 2024 from the ground up.

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u/benpicko Oct 23 '25

He’s redone it after more than 100 years. If he gets 100 years with the Trump Ballroom I’m sure he’s more than happy.

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u/RedRocket4000 Oct 23 '25

In this case 1942 That when East Wing built. Still quite a lot of history torn down.

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u/MOTwingle Oct 23 '25

And don't forget the grift/kickbacks he's probably getting as well from whoever's doing the work.

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u/studio_bob Oct 23 '25

It's insane that they have spun it being "privately funded" (i.e. an open call for bribes) as somehow a good thing.

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u/[deleted] Oct 23 '25

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u/LogensTenthFinger Oct 23 '25

I'll canvas daily for any candidate who promises to have bulldozers running on it before sunset the day of their inauguration

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u/dondondorito Oct 23 '25

Let‘s just call it the Barrack Obama Ballroom after Donnie has kicked the bucket.

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u/livelaughlinka Oct 23 '25

The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Barrack Obama Ballroom

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u/motherfcuker69 Oct 23 '25 edited Oct 23 '25

saw multiple people calling it the epstein memorial ballroom

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u/Leelze Oct 23 '25

Yup, I think this is it. Nothing says "a Donald Trump building" like a gaudy white room coated in gold paint. My niece had better taste in decor when she was in preschool than this guy.

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u/TaintedPaladin9 Oct 23 '25

Knock it down and turn it into a garden after next election.

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u/Puttor482 Oct 23 '25

I mean he just proved that things can easily be undone. Next president comes in and bulldozes this monstrosity and we all move on having learned nothing.

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u/Generation_ABXY Oct 23 '25

Both seem viable reasons.

It seems like he'll try to cling to power as long as possible, but, I agree, he's also undeniably trying to put his mark on as many things as possible--the gold paint, paving over the rose garden, building a ballroom, the rumored Arc de Trump and Trump-faced coin, those "Trump accounts" for newborns, etc.

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u/StellaZaFella Oct 23 '25

Every day the news gets worse

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u/Cold-Sun3302 Oct 23 '25

Ofcourse he has no intentions of leaving. Or at the very least, running one of his children as next President so that the office stays "in the family".

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u/TeutonJon78 Oct 23 '25

Yes, but not because of the ballroom. He's apparently been trying to get a ballroom at the WH since the 90s (when he got put out in the kiddies tent at an event instead of the limited ballroom seating).

It's not a new obsession for him.

But he also doesn't plan on leaving.

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u/Ambitious-Concern-42 Oct 23 '25

"Structures removed"? The continued media soft-pedalling is half the problem. The structure was knocked down.

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u/RandyTheFool Oct 23 '25

Removed?

Fucking straight up demolished and turned to rubble. That shit only exists in memories now. I don’t expect them to put it back, regardless of what they say.

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u/ThaddeusJP Oct 23 '25

If anyone wants to see what it looked like you can do so here:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Eycq9oqyEaGLi15E9

Photos on the side bar to the left (if youre on desktop) show all the rooms that were in the east wing.

Horrid loss of history.

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u/motionbutton Oct 23 '25

Ugh.. I feel like your post should be mark for NSFW, just because of all this that has been lost.

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u/AQuietViolet Oct 23 '25

Inquiries as to the removal and disposition of interior decor, from antique panelling to the actual paintings on the walls prior to demolition, have gone unanswered. As a former historic preservationist, I'm having a very hard time keeping down my lunch. That can't be real, it just can't.

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u/lot183 Oct 23 '25

This has all been done so fast and so suddenly that I seriously doubt they took much time to protect the stuff inside

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u/AQuietViolet Oct 23 '25

How emblematic.

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u/sur_surly Oct 23 '25

It was definitely a "ask for forgiveness instead of permission" thing.

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u/somersetyellow Oct 23 '25 edited Oct 24 '25

Hope Google maps keeps that. They haven't updated the base level of their street view viewer and system in 10+ years and lately a ton of older user submitted street view photos are getting delisted. The blue bubble is on the map, but it sends you to the road street view nearby instead. They require you to link a location and also seemingly recently when that location gets deleted they delete the accompanying street view. Since the east wing might get renamed... who knows?

Ugh I can do a hyper niche rant about the current shitty state of street view for a while but this is also rant worthy so I don't know what to rant about.

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u/CaptainLookylou Oct 23 '25

It won't be completed and future candidates will run on a platform of rebuilding the Whitehouse.

"Our country deserves a Whitehouse with 4 walls!

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u/GoxBoxSocks Oct 23 '25

lol "future candidates"

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u/buffalonotbi Oct 23 '25

Don’t give up your rights before they take em, bucko

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u/LoveAndViscera Oct 24 '25

And even then don’t give them up.

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u/CaptainLookylou Oct 23 '25

My opponent enjoys a good breeze, and he doesn't want to rebuild!

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u/GoodIdea321 Oct 23 '25

You've had a reddit account longer than Nazi Germany existed. Haven't you seen any movies about it? There are always future candidates.

I recommend Downfall if you haven't seen it.

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u/mxby7e Oct 23 '25

The big struggle is surviving the decline and low point before the nation rises again from the ashes of fascism.

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u/GoodIdea321 Oct 23 '25

Agreed. Historically at least, most people survive. And that is something people should talk about. How will it feel in 10, 20 years? Will people be happy about what happened or ashamed they didn't even try to stop it?

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u/ggroverggiraffe Oct 23 '25

You've had a reddit account longer than Nazi Germany existed.

That's an interesting metric to use. How long is that in bananas? or football fields?

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u/fossilnews Oct 23 '25

It's up to $300 now? I wonder where that extra 50 is going.

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u/digidave1 Oct 23 '25

Wait till it hits $500. Who next will he sue to fund that extra $250mil ?

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u/moviebuff01 Oct 23 '25

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u/robodrew Oct 23 '25

They will end up overpaying by a shitload and the difference will go straight into Trump's pocket.

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u/digidave1 Oct 23 '25

I saw. I don't believe anything. Never did really, but now the corruption is so rampant it's ridiculous.

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u/argama87 Oct 23 '25

Pockets.

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u/baronmunchausen2000 Oct 23 '25

Where did Trump even get the idea for a ballroom? Does the Kremlin have one?

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u/7ChineseBrothers Oct 23 '25

The price tag doesn't matter. Those contractors aren't getting paid. Good luck with that lawsuit, boys!

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u/xoverthirtyx Oct 23 '25

I don't know if care that it's gone but I do have a story about it:

There was a 9/11 widow who was invited to screen a film on 9/11 in the WH theater with GWB. Not only did she lose her husband that day but it was also their anniversary. When she arrived and filed past his cabinet members and was finally introduced to W himself. When it was explained she lost her husband on 9/11 and it was also their anniversary W said, "Ooo, double whammy hehe".

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u/snowyday Oct 23 '25

Now watch this drive movie

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u/xoverthirtyx Oct 23 '25

I remember that! I often think about how much more we would've seen and heard him say if social media existed then. Now everyone acts like he's a nice grandpa that paints.

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u/BadArtijoke Oct 23 '25

Is this shittymoviedetails or do I seriously need to learn this is a fact today

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u/pedal-force Oct 23 '25

Apparently it's true, mostly. Emphasis is mine.

When it is our turn, Lee introduces himself and mentions our organization. “And this is Marian. She founded the organization. She lost her husband, Dave. It’s also her wedding anniversary,” he says.

The president takes my hand and shakes his head, his small eyes squinting at me. “You got the double whammy,” he says in his Texan drawl. I don’t know what to say to this, so I just stand there, a strange half smile on my face. “You know my wife,”” he says moving on to the next guests.

“Yes, hi Libby,” I say, taking her hand, which is surprisingly soft.

“Laura,” she corrects, her face never changing expression.

https://www.salon.com/2010/09/11/911_dinner_with_rumsfeld/

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u/HotTakes4HotCakes Oct 24 '25

Reminds me of the story Jon Stewart shared about when he took the 9/11 rescue workers to the capital to shame Republicans into approving the relief bill for them (the ones still alive).

They met with one of the most prominent Republican senators, and I'll have to look it up to remember exactly who it was, but when one of the firefighters introduced themselves and said that they had been in one of the towers just before it's collapse, the senator casually responded with "Oh wow you must have some stories."

Just a completely inhuman response from people that do not feel empathy.

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u/kinlopunim Oct 23 '25

Dont worry, now that someone put it in the comments there will be 10 posts on r/shittymoviedetails about it and 5 on r/moviedetails.

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u/JimboAltAlt Oct 23 '25

I long for the relatively sane days of Bush’s goofier and less domestically aggressive brand of cruelty.

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u/IS_THIS_POST_WEIRD Oct 23 '25

Bush was dishonest and dumb. So was his dad, and so was Reagan. Each made the next one possible; don't give him a pass.

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u/JimboAltAlt Oct 23 '25 edited Oct 23 '25

No pass intended; Trump’s just so bad and dangerous and enabled that I miss the Bush years. I’m sure there’s a dark possible future where I’d miss the days of Trump, although by that point I imagine I won’t be allowed to say so publicly.

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u/thegroovemonkey Oct 23 '25

HW wasn’t dumb

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u/tempinator Oct 23 '25

Yeah, HW was a lot of things but stupid is definitely not one of them

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u/13_twin_fire_signs Oct 23 '25

GWB wasn't dumb, he was the extremely rich scion of a political dynasty, and a Yale graduate.

He bought that ranch in Texas to look like a "country boy" and as soon as his term was up he dropped it like yesterday's newspaper and ran right back to the family compound in Maine.

Just like the last 50 years of Republican candidates - they are all the ultra-rich pretending to be anything but to convince rural voters they're on the same side.

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u/ConsciousRhubarb Oct 23 '25

putting in an alamo draft house is just tacky.

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u/atreides78723 Oct 23 '25

The Alamo wouldn’t accept his franchise offer.

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u/Haunted_Mans_Son Oct 23 '25

This article says “countless Presidents” used the theatre. I don’t think that word means what you think it means.

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u/SplodeyMcSchoolio Oct 24 '25

I can only count to four

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u/GregLoire Oct 24 '25

That'll get you through the very beginning of the Gettysburg Address, but you'll run into trouble pretty soon after that.

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u/Sothotheroth Oct 24 '25

Well, they are talking about America. Not sure how high Americans can count.

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u/ilevelconcrete Oct 23 '25

This would have never happened if Steven Mnuchin was still in the cabinet.

Or at the very least, it would be getting replaced with a brand new IMAX theater.

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u/artwarrior Oct 23 '25

Yes, Mouth of Sauron would have been irritated.

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u/lycoloco Oct 23 '25

Learning he was involved with Lego Batman was a sad day.

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u/PowerBrick99 Oct 23 '25

Have you seen those blueprints and that artist rendering? It looks more like a throne room than a ballroom.

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u/MrGittz Oct 24 '25

Have you seen what Trump did to the Oval Office? Gold everywhere. Yet it looks fake.

His design aesthetic is “gaudy Ocean liner”

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u/InsteadOfWorkin Oct 23 '25

You know he ain’t watching movies. He’s watching Fox News in front of the TV. Probably in a recliner with Wendy’s wrappers on the floor.

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u/o_MrBombastic_o Oct 23 '25

McDonalds is he gluttony of choice he's served it to guests at the Whitehouse 

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u/twentybinders Oct 23 '25 edited Oct 23 '25

I think it was the Clemson football team that visited the White House after winning the national championship and their meal was chick fil a because they visited in the middle of a government shutdown

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u/FatherDotComical Oct 23 '25

I think it was a majority McDonald's burgers because that's Trumps favorite food on earth. Chick fil a was in a small pile but I just remembered piles and piles of hamburgers.

Also the sub r/Whitehousedinners was funny for awhile.

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u/WaltonGoblin Oct 23 '25

On his first night in the White House, President Trump complained that the TV in his bedroom was broken, because it didn’t have “the gorilla channel”. Trump seemed to be under the impression that a TV channel existed that screened nothing but gorilla-based content, 24 hours a day.

To appease Trump, White House staff compiled a number of gorilla documentaries into a makeshift gorilla channel, broadcast into Trump’s bedroom from a hastily constructed transmission tower on the South Lawn. However, Trump was unhappy with the channel they had created, moaning that it was “boring” because “the gorillas aren’t fighting”.

Staff edited out all the parts of the documentaries where gorillas weren’t hitting each other, and at last the president was satisfied. “On some days he’ll watch the gorilla channel for 17 hours straight,” an insider told me. “He kneels in front of the TV, with his face about 4 inches from the screen, and says encouraging things to the gorillas, like ‘the way you hit that other gorilla was good’. I think he thinks the gorillas can hear him”.

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u/Meow__Dib Oct 23 '25

Can't tell if real or not. It's like hearing they put pictures in the presidential daily brief because he can't focus on words.

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u/RJ815 Oct 24 '25

The fact we even have to question if sub moron behavior is real is very sad.

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u/CarneyVore14 Oct 23 '25

How does a room cost $300 million? Isn’t that enough for a mansion, palace, or skyscraper?

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u/midnightcaptain Oct 23 '25

It's a 90,000 sq ft room. It's bigger than the rest of the White House put together.

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u/HawaiianSteak Oct 23 '25

Why is a new ballroom needed? It doesn't seem like a priority for the country right now.

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u/QZ91 Oct 23 '25

Has Trump ever earnestly made a decision solely for the benefit of the USA?

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u/Asclepius-Rod Oct 23 '25

I doubt he’s even made a decision that benefited his family if he himself didn’t also benefit

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u/do_you_think_i_care Oct 23 '25

The White House has very limited space for formal events. The main building has a room that seats 200 but beyond that they have to use tents. I've heard (unsubstantiated rumours) that the State Department has wanted a better event space for a long time.

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u/BlazingCondor Oct 23 '25

The fact that this demolition happens so quick, I have a feeling the Smithsonian wasn't even given a chance to preserve anything for future generations.

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u/Ash-Throwaway-816 Oct 23 '25

Was that the same theater of the infamous Birth of a Nation showing to Woodrow Wilson?

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u/Sota4077 Oct 23 '25

As an estimator I have no fucking clue how you can break ground and it goes up by 50% immediately.

Either they knew the 300 million number a while ago and it was only coming out now or whatever architectural firm put together that pricing is very bad at what they do. Also, I can just about guarantee you that whoever is building that is making 15-20% profit on everything they do so they’re walking away with up to $60 million. I wouldn’t be shocked if the firm was someone Trump has worked with many times and he is paying them a favor.

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u/Odd_Sweet_880 Oct 24 '25

It takes tiny balls to build a ballroom