A former White House aide under Donald Trump is blasting her old boss over the demolition of the East Wing — a historic section of the White House now being torn down to make room for a $250 million ballroom.
The controversial project, which Trump claims won’t use taxpayer money, has quickly become a lightning rod for criticism. Speaking with MSNBC’s Chris Jansing, former White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews ripped into the president for destroying the historic building, calling the whole thing a symbol of “reckless destruction” and “corruption.”
“I think for the American people, this is tough to watch. We look at these images of the East Wing just being completely destroyed,” Matthews said, recalling her time working in the same wing for First Lady Melania Trump. “This is not Trump’s house, this is the people’s house, and there can be arguments to be made if this ballroom was necessary. [Then] he could have gone through the proper channels for this to get approved.”
Trump originally promised he would pay for the extravagant addition himself. Now, however, he’s reportedly seeking donations from “friends” in Big Tech and business — including Meta, Amazon, and Palantir Technologies. That move, Matthews said, makes the entire project smell like pay-to-play politics.
“This just reeks of this broader narrative of the reckless destruction taking place under this administration, and not just that, but the corruption,” she said. “Because you look at the list of these donors, you see companies like Meta, Amazon, Palantir. These are all companies that have bent the knee to him and then have been awarded contracts, and so it just reeks of bribery and corruption.”
Matthews went on to call it “disappointing” that a place as historically significant as the East Wing was being replaced by what she described as “a monument to lavishness and the gaudiness of Trump.”
She’s not the only one raising red flags. Interior designer Sarah Boardman has been posting detailed breakdowns of the project’s costs and permits on Threads, suggesting the money trail doesn’t add up.
“I ran these numbers in August. Just as a note, this ballroom costing $200 million and supposedly 90,000 ft is about $2,200 a square foot,” she wrote. “In D.C., let’s say a level four, maybe a level 5 finish commercial is about $600 a square foot. Let’s say on the outside it’s $800 a square foot because it’s literally being constructed by Craftsman. That other 120 million that’ll end up in his pocket. Signed a builder.”
Since then, the estimated price has ballooned — first to $250 million, and now, according to Trump himself on Wednesday, to $300 million.
“It is not permitted. They did not get planning permission,” Boardman continued. “There are no records that any EPA permits were done. Any testing, soil testing, building testing. This is absolutely a money laundering grift. And it won’t cost $250 million. It will be three times that and there’s no way that it’s going to be done in 3 years.”
Between the missing permits, the donor list, and the ever-growing price tag, critics say the so-called “Trump Ballroom” is shaping up to be more than just another flashy Trump project — it’s becoming a full-blown symbol of political corruption and excess.
Watch the full commentary below from MSNBC:
