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For years, conservatives loudly complained that government spending was opaque, that their hard-earned dollars were being secretly misused, and that the government definitely did not need all the money it was taking from them.
That was always hyperbole … until now.
These days, your money belongs to Donald Trump, and he does whatever he wants with it. The White House belongs to Trump, and he does whatever he wants with it. That’s what kings do. And that’s as much of a breakdown of democracy as his increasingly authoritarian grip on the country.
Trump started the week by unilaterally deciding to demolish the East Wing of the White House so he could build an enormous $300 million gold-plated ballroom paid for by donations from private companies seeking to curry favor. No, he didn’t get any permits. No, he didn’t go through any public review. No, he did not submit any plans to the National Capital Planning Commission.
And why would he?
Trump doesn’t see the White House as the people’s house. He sees it as his. Sure, he said just a few months ago that the ballroom would be near the White House, but not touch it, and that construction wouldn’t interfere with the existing building. But he changed his mind, and that’s totally cool because, as a White House official explained to NBC News, “the scope and the size of the ballroom project have always been subject to vary as the process develops.”
Oh, got it. No plans, no rules, just vibes. Trump wants to tear out a whole wing of the White House? Great. You’re saying that cost has increased from $200 million to $300 million, even though nothing has been built and no one has seen any actual plans? Seems fine. It was going to hold 650 people, but as of Wednesday, that’s now up to nearly 1,000? Yep, definitely how large-scale government construction works.
Trump has justified this by saying that private donations are covering the cost. Well, he initially said he would pay for it, but why would he do that when so many big corporations hoping for favorable treatment are willing to give him millions of dollars?
Tearing down the White House and replacing it with a facsimile of Mar-a-Lago isn’t any less appalling just because Trump has cajoled companies into paying for it. Indeed, it might be worse. The president funding a pet project — one that involves destroying the White House, no less — via the coercion of private donors creates a closed loop and a complete lack of accountability and transparency.
While the wanton destruction of the White House is by far the most obvious example of Trump’s belief that the government belongs to him personally, there’s so much more.
Stealing from taxpayers
Trump is now insisting that he’s entitled to $230 million from the Department of Justice as “compensation” for past federal investigations into his actions.
Before winning the 2024 election, Trump filed two administrative claims under the Federal Torts Claim Act, which allows individuals who are harmed or suffer property damage due to a wrongful act by a federal employee to seek reimbursement from the government. The government can choose to pay the claim and settle the matter that way, or, if it refuses, the injured person can bring a lawsuit under the FTCA.
Trump wants money for the investigation into his campaign’s connections with Russian interference in the 2016 election. What losses, exactly, did he suffer? He faced no criminal charges, no civil lawsuits, no monetary penalties, and no financial losses. But it made him feel mad and sad, so we, the taxpayers, owe him.