The White House Was Never Meant To Be A Palace For A King—Until Now The founders built a modest president’s residence for a republic. Bulldozing the East Wing to make room for a donor‑funded ballroom flips that choice Dean Blundell Oct 21 October 21, 2025 Estimated read time: 7 minutes We couldn’t be more grateful to have you as part of this incredible community! So, we extended the half-price annual subscription deal for October. Get 50% off yearly plans and unlimited access, and never pay more. Redeem the offer by October 31, and feel free to share or gift a subscription to support fearless, independent journalism wherever you find it. A republic’s house meets the wrecking crew Yesterday, demolition crews began tearing into the East Wing of the White House. The stated aim: clear space for a new, privately financed ballroom—a project touted at $200–$250 million, roughly 90,000 square feet, with a capacity up to 999 guests. A new monument to America’s King, seeking a palace fit for a king. The images are jarring: water trucks suppressing dust as excavators bite into a wing that, for generations, handled the unglamorous work of the People’s House. I can’t stop thinking about how deliberate the founders were in the opposite direction. “A house, not a palace” From the start, the United States rejected the European instinct to crown power with a palace. Pierre L’Enfant initially sketched a monumental presidential “palace” for the new capital. George Washington and the city commissioners halted that scheme and substituted a smaller residence. The scale decision was the point: the president would live in a house, not reign from a palace. After the British torched the mansion in 1814, Irish‑born architect James Hoban was told to rebuild it “as it had been.” The White House became an American contradiction made intentional—an august house, yet a house and not a palace. That phrase isn’t decoration—it’s doctrine. The building’s scale was meant to check the ego of whoever lived inside. The East Wing’s quiet job The East Wing has never been the showhorse; it’s the workhorse. It houses the First Lady’s staff, logistics, and the public entry for tours—and sits above the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, the wartime bunker added in the mid‑20th century. If the West Wing is the stage, the East Wing is the backstage, built and rebuilt to serve function over flash. That continuity—modest scale for a mighty office—is exactly the point. What changed on October 20 By any sane measure of symbolism, bulldozing a core piece of the People’s House to install a donor‑funded gala hall is a rupture. The project is being sold as privately financed, with major contractors engaged and renderings that scream spectacle. Critics note that the approval process leans heavily on advisory bodies and behind‑the‑scenes coordination—oversight that feels more like formalities than brakes. Meanwhile, the pitch to donors all but admits the purpose: more grandeur, more galas, more glow. And the visuals? This isn’t “upkeep.” The East Room already hosts state events. What’s being solved here isn’t governance—it’s grandeur. The monument impulse Lest anyone think the ballroom is a one‑off, the president has also floated a triumphal “Independence Arch” for the 2026 semiquincentennial—models shown to donors, grand phrases attached. The theme is consistent: big self‑mythologizing structures inserted into the civic landscape. Castle envy, if you like; a castle in the mind, arch on the river, ballroom in the wing. Split‑screen: the founders vs. the ballroom build Founders’ frame: Scrap the palace; build a house. After 1814, rebuild as it had been—restrained, legible, republican. 2025 frame: Tear down part of the East Wing to install a mega‑ballroom, underwritten by private donors, shepherded through advisory oversight. A palace hall by another name. Anticipating the excuses “It’s not taxpayer money.” Democratic symbolism isn’t for sale. The White House is a public artifact; letting private dollars reshape its meaning is precisely the problem. Even perfect philanthropy can’t sanitize private branding of public heritage. “Presidents always renovate.” True—for function. Theodore Roosevelt created the West Wing because staff were stacked into the residence. FDR extended the East Wing and added the bunker for war and security. Replacing a hard‑working wing with a gala space is different in kind, not degree. Tents and temporary pavilions have handled overflow for generations. If you believe the People’s House should keep looking like ours, not his, track the proceedings at preservation and planning bodies and submit public comments where available. Follow watchdog reporting, save the photos, and say out loud what the founders already decided: this is a house, not a palace. The Founding Fathers said so. We couldn’t be more grateful to have you as part of this incredible community! So, we extended the half-price annual subscription deal for October. Get 50% off yearly plans and unlimited access, and never pay more. Redeem the offer by October 31, and feel free to share or gift a subscription to support fearless, independent journalism wherever you find it.