Trump Says the White House ‘Was a Sh*t House’ With Columns ‘Falling Down’ When He Moved Back In

 
Donald Trump outside Oval Office

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

President Donald Trump complained that the White House was a “sh*t house” when he moved back in for his second term, claiming that the columns were “falling down” and plaster “falling off.”

Trump has made numerous controversial changes to the presidential residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, including adding a significant quantity of new gold decor to the Oval Office, renovating the Lincoln Bathroom to add marble and yet more gold fixtures, and demolishing the East Wing to build a ballroom.

Monday, Trump hosted an event honoring law enforcement officials at the White House and delivered a speech that covered his typical wide range of topics. During his remarks, he discussed his opinion of the physical condition of the building.

“This place was not properly taken care of,” said Trump.

He said that First Lady Melania Trump had told him to “act presidential” and “don’t use foul language,” but then he went ahead and said, “normally I would have said it was a sh*t house, but I don’t wanna say that.”

“The columns were falling down. The plaster was falling off,” he claimed, adding the paint job was in disrepair as well, but “this place is tippy-top now.”

Trump touted “all the brand-new beautiful new stone, I paid for it myself,” saying that “we’re bringing the White House back to shape.”

“I spent a lot of time on bringing this house back, because this house was in very bad shape,” he said, and the White House should be “incredible” and “pristine.”

“And the big thing is, we’re building a ballroom in the back, which will be, I think, the most beautiful ballroom anywhere in the world,” he continued. “You’ll never see anything like it. And it will also be very safe. It’s going to be a very safe ballroom. It’s got glass this thick, it’s amazing, the glass is this thick, like six inches thick, and you look through it, and you can see as perfectly as though it weren’t there. Now, how they do that, I don’t know, but it’s at the highest level of safety, and you won’t have a situation like you had two weeks ago on Saturday night,” referring to the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Watch the video above via C-SPAN.

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Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.