For more than a week now, the media has worked itself into a frenzy over the construction of a new White House ballroom. They spend news cycle after news cycle calling it “destruction” and claiming President Donald Trump is “defacing history.”
They couldn’t be more wrong.
The truth is, the White House is not a museum. It is a living, working symbol of the American presidency. President Trump, a builder by nature and by trade, is doing what builders do best: improving what he’s inherited so it can better serve the nation for generations to come.
The White House has evolved many times throughout its history. Theodore Roosevelt replaced greenhouses with construction of the West Wing. William Howard Taft constructed the first Oval Office in 1909. Richard Nixon converted a swimming pool into the press briefing room in 1970 and Harry Truman revamped the White House interior and added the balcony that bears his name.
President Trump’s expansion follows that same tradition. The new ballroom is a practical investment in America’s most important home. For years, the White House has struggled to accommodate large-scale events, whether for state visits, national ceremonies or even bipartisan gatherings that bring leaders together. Under this presidency, the People’s House is regaining the capacity to host the American people again.
You wouldn’t know that from watching the media or scrolling through the headlines. The same voices that cheers when money is spent on “green art installations” or “inclusive architecture” suddenly declare war when President Trump is the one putting on the builder’s hat. The outrage is as predictable as it is misplaced.
The White House has always reflected the character of the American president who occupies it. President Trump’s additions are bold, functional and reflect an America that builds, that creates and that looks forward instead of backward.
The ballroom project is also a nod to something deeper: confidence. After years of decline and division, America is once again leading, producing and building. The president who rebuilt our military, is reviving manufacturing and who put America first is now making sure the People’s House is worthy of the nation it represents.
Contrast that with the Left’s vision—a White House bogged down with restrictive COVID mandates and that was off-limits to the very citizens to whom it belongs.
When future presidents host world leaders, honor heroes or welcome Americans from every walk of life into that ballroom, they’ll do so under a roof that embodies a builder’s vision and a patriot’s love of country.
President Trump is building again, and America and the White House are stronger for it.
Andy Biggs, Marlin Stutzman, Andy Ogles and Josh Brecheen are Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.
