President Donald Trump couldn’t help himself, quickly turning a White House event into another spectacle.
What should have been a straightforward Oval Office appearance took an unexpected turn when a reporter brought up Trump’s controversial ballroom project, setting off a heated response and giving Trump another opportunity to redirect the attention toward himself.
The question about his ballroom debacle appeared to push Trump over the edge, prompting him to lash out at critics
The awkward moment unfolded Monday in the Oval Office, where Trump hosted 16-year-old lifeguard Ryder Williams, who became a national hero after rescuing a 10-year-old boy from dangerous surf off the coast of Santa Cruz, California, on July 25.
The White House brought in both Williams and the young 10-year-old Nathaniel Rai.
As CNN White House correspondent Kristen Holmes started to ask Trump about his ballroom construction project, the president turned to Williams, who was sitting at the president’s side.
“Don’t you find them nice?” Trump asked sarcastically about the reporters, as if a 16-year-old would know much about his hatred of and feud with the press.
“Nice people,” he said before reaching over and slapping Williams on the thigh in a highly awkward moment.
Trump then put words in the teen’s mouth.
“You say, ‘Where do people like this come from?” the president asked, turning back to reporters.
“Go ahead,” he ordered Holmes, but he couldn’t help himself, spitting out, “especially her.”
The journalist asked him about the ballroom construction at the White House, a Trump pet project that hit a setback on Aug. 7 when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a lower-court injunction that would pause construction at the site.
“The people that are opposing the ballroom are people that, in my opinion, are very disloyal to our country. Very, very, very disloyal to our country,” Trump stated.
But he wasn’t done.
“And I think we’re doing very well. We’re way ahead of schedule. We’re under budget. It’s going to be the most beautiful ballroom of its kind,” he claimed.
But Trump’s “under budget” boast clashes with the project’s rapidly escalating price tag.
The cost of Trump illegally tearing down the East Wing of the White House without Congressional approval to build a ballroom has ballooned to more than double the original estimate of $220 million.
And possibly even quadruple that amount. The Washington Post reported last week that the new wing could end up costing as much as $900 million.
Trump also said donors would pay for the reconstruction, but the Post, after an extensive review, reported that taxpayers will end up footing most of the costs.
Social media descended into an outraged frenzy.
“You heard it here first. Straight from the horse’s mouth. If you oppose the ballroom, you hate America,” an X user quipped before wondering, “What the hell are we doing?”
Another agreed, “Utterly loony.”
Poster Kim had no patience for Trump’s antics, “Look at him. Shucking and jivving with boys he thinks are his friends. Fucking Dumbass Donnie.”
Commenter Judy DuBois had just two words for Trump. “Nut case.”
Opponents point out Trump is lying, saying the exact opposite of what the facts show.
Despite Trump’s claim that construction is barreling ahead, the administration says the project is only about 65 percent complete as it fights a court order that would halt aboveground construction. Work on the underground military and security complex beneath the ballroom, however, would be allowed to continue.
The other part of the problem for Trump and his “big, beautiful ballroom” is the courts have brought the project to a virtual standstill.
Trump is appealing the Aug. 7 court ruling that would halt the massively expensive project pending Congressional approval. Now the president is asking the Supreme Court to overrule the lower court on national security grounds.
His latest excuse is that the project is more than a ballroom. He and his cronies now say it’s a “military complex” designed to protect government officials and even Washington residents.
