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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
David Smith in Washington

‘Trump is a wrecking ball’: behind the president’s $200m plan to build a White House ballroom

The newly paved Rose Garden at the White House on 6 August 2025.
The newly paved Rose Garden at the White House on 6 August 2025. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

“Sir, why are you up on the roof?”

The question was shouted by a reporter on Tuesday as Donald Trump scaled new heights at the White House. The US president explained that he was scoping out a new ballroom and boasted: “Just another way to spend my money for this country.”

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