Donald Trump’s been so busy upending the norms of democracy, igniting trade disputes and failing to end wars, it’s hard to see how he’s had time for renovations.
But the US president’s real estate development roots are on full show, from splashing gold around the Oval Office, to ripping up the grass in the White House Rose Garden, he’s on a mission to Trumpify the symbol of American democracy and power.
Today, policy editor at The Bulwark, Mona Charen on what Trump’s up to and what it says about his leadership.
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Mona Charen, The Bulwark policy editor
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Sam Hawley: He's been so busy upending the norms of democracy, igniting trade disputes and trying but failing to end wars, it's hard to see how Donald Trump has time for renovations. But the US President's real estate development roots are on full show. From splashing gold around the Oval Office to ripping up the grass in the Rose Garden, he's on a mission to Trumpify the White House. Today, policy editor at The Bulwark, Mona Charen, on what Trump's up to and why. I'm Sam Hawley on Gadigal land in Sydney. This is ABC News Daily.
Mona Charen: My name is Mona Charen. I am the policy editor at thebulwark.com, which is a publication that consists of former Republicans, Republican refugees from the Republican Party. And I began my professional career, well, let me put it this way. Early in my professional career, I worked in the White House under Ronald Reagan.
Sam Hawley: Mona, I suppose we should actually start by saying that Donald Trump is not dead, despite these rumours spreading around because he wasn't actually seen for a couple of days.
Mona Charen: Yes, the rumor mill has become insane in our time.
Reporter: How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead? You see that?
Donald Trump, US President: I didn't hear that one. That's pretty serious stuff. Well, it's fake news.
Mona Charen: I mean, there were always rumours, but they didn't used to dominate discourse the way they do now. It's crazy.
Sam Hawley: Oh my gosh. Well, he is well and truly alive.
Mona Charen: Yes, he is.
Donald Trump, US President: It's sort of crazy, but last week I did numerous news conferences, all successful. They went very well, like this is going very well. And then I didn't do any for two days, and they said, there must be something wrong with him. Biden wouldn't do them for months. You wouldn't see him. And nobody ever said there was ever anything wrong with him.
Sam Hawley: And last month, a group of reporters was called to the White House to find Donald Trump on the roof. Just remind me of that.
Mona Charen: Yes, he was on the roof, planning his vast redesign of the whole White House complex, which had previously been announced. I worked in the White House many years ago, decades ago now, under the Reagan administration. And I think it's not just my own sentimentality that makes me say this, but the White House is a very gracious set of buildings. It's low to the ground. There's a certain symmetry to the way it is laid out. There's an East wing and a West wing. And then in the centre is the residence that everyone is familiar with. And what Trump is proposing to do will just completely destroy the lovely, graceful lines of the White House complex.
Sam Hawley: Yeah, a beautiful historic building. So let me just go back to this roof moment. He was up on that roof and he's shouting down to reporters, as I understand it. He's saying, just another way to spend my money. Just four ways to spend my money. Something beautiful, he said. So he was actually referring in this instance to creating a new ballroom, wasn't he? At the White House. Yes. So it was outlined after that moment by the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She was holding up pictures describing how wonderful and big this ballroom would be.
Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary: The White House is one of the most beautiful and historic buildings in the world. Yet the White House is currently unable to host major functions, honouring world leaders in other countries without having to install a large and unsightly tent approximately 100 yards away from the main building's entrance..
Mona Charen: Well, first of all, I would like to offer a little wager if anybody would like to take me up on it as to whether he will actually spend his own money. Very skeptical about that. But look, this ballroom that he proposes will be enormous. So it's going to replace what is the East Wing. It's used for a few different things. It's where the tours, the public tours of the White House originate from and where people go through security and so forth. And it's also the offices of the first lady. Well, this ballroom that Trump proposes to build will dwarf the entire complex. It'll be several times larger than the West Wing. It will be tall. And also, shall we be frank here? It will be gaudy and tasteless and very much in the model of Mar-a-Lago. Mar-a-Lago comes to the Potomac.
Donald Trump, US President: There's never been a president that was good at ballrooms. I'm really good. In fact, I looked at one that we just built in Turnberry in Scotland, and it's incredible. We're good at building. I'm good at building things, and we'll get it built quickly and on time. It'll be beautiful. Top of the line.
Sam Hawley: Yeah, OK. And not only just this ballroom, of course, because the whole White House seems to be getting, as you said, a bit of a Trump touch up. Yes. When you look at the Oval Office now, wow, there's a fair bit of gold, isn't there, Mona?
Mona Charen: Yes. Look, I'm so embarrassed as an American. Look, different presidents have the right to decorate their home as they see fit. So he does have the right to do this. He thinks that's classy.
Sam Hawley: Yes. Others say gaudy.
Mona Charen: It's quite the opposite. It is. It's grotesque. All of this excess, wretched excess of so much gold. Talk about gilding the lily. The rest of us look at that in horror and think, what have you done to this beautiful building?
Sam Hawley: Oh, my gosh. He's also ripped up the Rose Garden. He's taken all the grass out, hasn't he? Yes, he has. And put pavers down. He told Fox News. I can't even say this out loud. He told Fox News the grass was no good for women with heels.
Mona Charen: Yes, he did. Yes.
Donald Trump, US President: What was happening is they're supposed to have events. Every event you have, it's soaking wet. Yeah. It's soaking wet. And people can't. And the women with the high heels, it's just too much.
Reporter: That's where he did the Kavanaugh. That's where he did.
Donald Trump, US President: That's right. The grass just, it doesn't work. And we have a gorgeous stone and everything else.
Sam Hawley: Oh, my gosh. I mean, that Rose Garden, it's historically significant, isn't it?
Mona Charen: Sure. You know, it's it's been the site of many great White House events. Bill Clinton had the ceremony where he nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg there. It's been the site of countless greetings of foreign leaders. And Hollywood in general tends to imagine that the White House is enormous. And in fact, it isn't. It's actually fairly modest in size, which some of us think is appropriate for a Democratic Republic. And the Rose Garden itself is on the you know, it's not huge. It was put in by John F. Kennedy, if I'm not mistaken. And Jackie Kennedy arranged for the roses, which have been carefully tended by White House gardeners ever since. And it brings because it's a garden, it brings a certain humanity, a certain gracefulness to a government building. And to pave it over is just it's just a crime. The specialness of that spot is completely destroyed. Now, of course, just as pavers can be put down, they can be ripped up again. But but it's his it's his sensibility. That's the problem.
Sam Hawley: Yeah. All right. Well, let's then Mona have a look at why he is actually doing this. As you said, other presidents have made changes to the White House, but he has gone a step further. There surely is rules, is there not? I mean, this is a historic building. Yes. Are there is there no one keeping a check on this at this point?
Mona Charen: Well, you know, there are rules in the District of Columbia where which are actually quite strict about, for example, how tall you can build a building. And any time you tamper with something that has historical significance, there is a panel that you're supposed to get the approval of first. But guess what? It doesn't apply to the White House. It doesn't apply to the president. Other presidents have had the good grace to ask permission before making major changes, although nobody has contemplated the kinds of changes we're talking about here. But, you know, other previous presidents did, out of courtesy, go to the local officials and ask. And also there's the White House Historical Association, which which is a private organisation, but in a better world would weigh in on the appropriateness of the changes and and how best to maintain the traditional style of the White House while perhaps making room for some changes. But apparently the president is actually immune from any requirement that he go before any of these bodies. He could do so, but he's choosing not to.
Sam Hawley: Of course, he's broken norms all over the place, hasn't he? Democratic norms, presidential norms. That's right. And you really see the changes to the White House, his renovations, if you like, as a metaphor for everything else that he's done. Just explain that.
Mona Charen: Right. So though my heart breaks a little at the thought of a gaudy Mar-a-Lago like structure in the place of the East Wing, you know, part of me says, look, he is defacing and distorting so many other aspects of American life right now. He's destroying our standing in the world. He is pulling us away from our allies and attaching us to the most vicious tyrants around the world for whom he seems to have some kind of affinity. He is trampling over the rule of law. He is siccing his Justice Department on people who criticise him. He is deploying troops to our major cities. I could go on and on. I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. But in light of that, since he is doing all of those things, it is actually fitting that there will be a physical representation of that desecration in the White House, that just as the country will never be the same after what he is doing to us. Similarly, the White House will never be the same after he's finished with it.
Sam Hawley: Yeah. And even the courts seemingly can't stop him. They're trying.
Mona Charen: Well, we'll see. We'll see. The courts are just getting off the couch. So let's wait and see on that.
Sam Hawley: All right. Well, Mona, tell me, what do you think Americans have made of all of this? And what about his MAGA base? Do they like all this gold that he's splashing around?
Mona Charen: The MAGA base are so brainwashed that they like everything he does and will not criticise anything. As for the others, I think there's a vast middle that's never liked Trump, but enough of them were willing to vote for him because of high prices and because they felt Biden was so incompetent and so old. I am of the school that thinks things have to get very, very bad for the average person. Like there has to be inflation. There have to be job losses. There has to be real economic pain for them to truly regret their votes.
Sam Hawley: For them to realise he has gold and they don't. Right. Well, tell me what next then, because Trump has until what, 2029? So he could make a lot of changes to the White House between now and then. Is there more to come? Do you think?
Mona Charen: You know, I think they should just put a huge clown nose on the building. That might be the most appropriate change they could make.
Sam Hawley: Oh, gosh. And when he's gone, though, what will happen? Will the next president take it all down, rip it all up and return it?
Mona Charen: No, no, absolutely not, because the next president will either be someone who cheers it on and would not dream of touching a thing that was Trumpian or the next president will be a responsible person who would recognise that it would be a terrible waste of taxpayer money to tear something down that was perfectly usable. So we're stuck.
Sam Hawley: Mona Charen is the policy editor of The Bulwark and the host of The Beg To Differ podcast. This episode was produced by Sydney Pead. Audio production by Sam Dunn. Our supervising producer is David Coady. I'm Sam Hawley. ABC News Daily will be back again on Monday. Thanks for listening.