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.

WaPo Poll Finds Ds Winning Early Budget Fight Arguments, Trump/Vought Middle Finger Congress, Miller-Goebbels Keeps Escalating Hopium paid subscribers gather tonight at 715pm ET/Welcome new subscribers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Simon Rosenberg Oct 2 Morning all. A new Washington Post poll has Dems winning the big early arguments in the budget fight. 71% of voters want the ACA tax credits extended. Only 29% don’t. Trump and the Rs are seen as more responsible for the shutdown, 47% to 30%: As we reviewed yesterday Trump and the Rs head into this budget fight in a very weakened position, with a majority both disapproving of his Presidency and all almost every piece of his agenda. Trump’s powers of persuasion are deeply diminished, and I am doubtful that he can win this argument with us over time despite their information superiority. For he and his allies are doing real harm to the country (rising prices, assault on health care, undermining our freedoms); voters have figured this out and are not happy about it; things are likely to get worse for the American people in the months ahead, not better; and he is in clear physical and cognitive decline, and growing madder, more untethered with each passing day. While the Rs are fighting to keep prices high (tariffs) and weaken our health care we should all be heartened that our mad leader has decreed that THE BALLROOM MUST KEEP GETTING BUILT! Trump And Vought Launch A Savage Attack On Congress’s Article 1 Authorities And Our Constitutional Order - As I wrote yesterday, I’ve been a bit more skeptical than some that we can ever get to a deal on the budget for the Trump regime views Democrats as domestic terrorists, lesser beings, and thus illegitimate, unworthy partners in governing. Until Monday they had imperially refused to even meet with Leaders Schumer and Jeffries over a budget that was by law supposed to be passed and in place on Tuesday. Immediately after their failed meeting on Monday Trump launched vicious attacks against both Dem leaders on social media. Yesterday, Russell Vought launched completely unhinged, illegal attacks on Congressionally mandated programs. Here’s Politico this morning: The White House is targeting Democratic states with its first wave of cuts to federal projects following the government shutdown, impacting billions of dollars in funding for energy and infrastructure in New York, California and elsewhere. Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said Wednesday the Trump administration is cancelling nearly $8 billion in funding for energy programs he characterized as part of “the Left’s climate agenda.” The cuts will impact 16 states — all of which voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election. Vought did not identify exactly which programs would be cut in the social media announcement. Earlier Wednesday, Vought said the White House is withholding $18 billion in funds from New York City’s Second Ave. subway and Gateway tunnel projects, the latter which connects New Jersey and New York. New York-area lawmakers reacted with fury to the infrastructure cuts earlier Wednesday. “Political revenge. Clearly outlined by Trump, time and again. He sees the U.S. as Blue and Red, and Blue states are enemies,” George Latimer (D-N.Y.), who represents the New York City suburbs in Westchester County, wrote in a text message to POLITICO. “As he has said many times, he hates his enemies; he is the retribution. Has he announced any rescission of any projects in Florida or Texas?” Vought has not publicly announced cuts that affected a state that backed Trump in 2024. A core Dem demand in these negotiations is to get a commitment from the White House and Congressional Republicans that Vought will follow the law and our Constitution and honor whatever budget agreement is reached in the coming months. That right out of the box Vought started turning off programs in blue states is them telling Dems - and Congress itself - to fuck off. Late yesterday afternoon Senior White House aid Kevin Hassett asserted that the monies to bail out farmers devastated by Trump’s economic policies would not need to be authorized by Congress. The White House would just take money from the tariffs and move them to the farmers. We need to be clear here - there is no version of a democracy where something like that could happen without legislative approval. It’s pure Mad King authoritarianism, fascism, whatever you want to call it but it sure isn't something an American President is allowed to do. Here is Trump this morning. Unhinged, deranged, zero concern for the welfare of the country or its people. Somehow they think they are winning here: Leader Schumer and Jeffries have rightly asserted their Constitutional and legal authority to shape the priorities and budget of the United States. They have sought to weigh in and negotiate, as all legislative leaders have an obligation to do. This is particularly true in a historically closely divided Congress, and with the country so profoundly losing faith in Trump’s leadership. This reasonable demand by our Dem leaders to negotiate - as their obligation and responsibility in our system of government - has been met with a fusillade of illegal and unconstitutional attacks on the authority of Congress itself. These unhinged responses of course are a confirmation of the righteousness of the decision by Leaders Schumer and Jeffries to make negotiations - and the acknowledgement of their legitimacy in this process - a condition for supporting the GOP’s budget framework. Need to keep fighting all. The DHS Raid In Chicago/Miller-Goebbels Is Completely Out Of Control - From The Chicago Sun-Times: Dan Jones was jolted awake around 1 a.m. Tuesday to the sound of federal agents trying to break through his apartment door. They couldn’t get past his double lock, so he went back to bed. But when he woke up hours later for work, he walked out and found broken doors littering the hallway — and his neighbors missing. Jones, 27, is among the residents left at 7500 S. South Shore Drive who are trying to piece together what remains after an early morning, high-powered federal immigration raid led to the arrests of dozens of their neighbors at their South Shore apartment building. Armed federal agents in military fatigues busted down their doors overnight, pulling men, women and children from their apartments, some of them naked, residents and witnesses said. Agents approached or entered nearly every apartment in the five-story building, and U.S. citizens were among those detained for hours. When he got home from work, Jones said he entered his unit to find all of his electronics and furniture missing, and all of his clothes and shoes thrown on the floor. Jones said he had no idea who took his belongings and hadn’t received answers from Chicago police. “I’m pissed off,” Jones said. “I feel defeated because the authorities aren’t doing anything.” On Wednesday, toys, shoes and food were still in piles in the building’s hallways. Property managers were seen throwing mattresses and broken doors into dumpsters. ……………. In the South Shore raid, neighbors said federal agents used flashbang grenades to burst through the building and several drones and helicopters were deployed. Ebony Sweets Watson, who lives across the street, said it “looked like hundreds” of agents were outside her front door. Watson said she saw agents dragging residents, including kids, out of the building without any clothes on and into U-Haul vans. Kids were separated from their mothers, she said. “It was heartbreaking to watch,” said Watson. “Even if you’re not a mother, seeing kids coming out buck naked and taken from their mothers, it was horrible.” Watson said she went into the building to help one of the residents and was shocked by what she saw. “Stuff was everywhere,” said Watson. “You could see people’s birth certificates, and papers thrown all over. Water was leaking into the hallway. It was wicked crazy.” No coordination with local police. No warrants. No due process. Naked kids separated from their parents in the middle of the night. In my Monday essay, We Must Keep The Military Off Our Streets, I wrote: While we rally behind Leaders Schumer and Jeffries in their budget fight this week national Democratic leaders must also begin to speak in a single unified and far more aggressive voice in challenging this escalating use of the military and armed, masked agents on American streets. For if we are silent, if we do not challenge this aggression forcefully, we give Trump permission to keep escalating. In this recent analysis I show that “threats to democracy” have, in recent weeks, risen to an issue of great concern to voters, far outpacing their concern about their health care for example. Democrats simply must, as we go deeper into this debate with Trump, make their escalating authoritarianism part of our narrative and agenda. Rising costs and health care are a good start. But after everything that has happened in recent days - the speech to the Generals, the expansion into more and more cities, their assault on Congress’s Article 1 powers, their shutting down of our government - we simply must be contesting their escalating assault on the Constitutional order and all of us far more aggressively, and make it part of our rallying cry, particularly as we build towards the next No Kings Day on October 18th. A reminder of how central “threats to democracy” were to voters last year (From the Exit Polls) And of course concerns about threats to democracy were central to our significant overperformance in the 2022 midterms. Friends, we are in the fight all of us wanted to have with Trump, and now, we need to go out and win it, together. Let’s Get To Work Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!! I want to thank everyone who has given in recent days. We saw a big uptick in giving before the critical q3 filing deadline. Note that we’ve hit $200,000 raised now for our 7 House incumbents and Abigail Spanberger, and our Audacious expansion fund is off to a great start. Thank you all! Paid subscribers should use this link to register for our weekly gathering tonight at 715pm ET. We sure do have a lot to talk about. Winning The Fall - Support Our November, 2025 Candidates and Yes On 50 Mikie Sherrill NJ Gov (2025) - $250,000 goal, $96k raised - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Watch my new interview with Rep. Sherrill | Read my new post about Sherrill’s sturdy polling lead | Sherrill leads by 8 in new Fox poll Abigail Spanberger VA Gov (2025) - $250,000 goal, $203k raised - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Watch my interview with Abigail Spanberger Yes on 50 (CA) - $50,000 goal - Donate | Learn more, volunteer | Sign Up For CA Dem Party Daily Phonebanks | Watch my new interview with Gov. Gavin Newsom Hopium members in CA/NJ/PA/VA - please vote on Day 1, or as early as you can, either by mail or in-person. When you vote early your names comes off the campaign GOTV rolls allowing them to move on to lower propensity voters, which increases D turnout and makes it more likely we win. Voting early = another way to help us win. Please vote early and encourage everyone you know to join you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Winning The Midterms - Support Our 2026 Candidates Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $250,000 goal, $41,000 raised- Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Watch my interview with Gov. Cooper Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $250,000 goal, $77k raised - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Watch my inspiring new interview with Senator Ossoff Hopium House 7 (2026) - $250,000 goal, $211k raised - Donate | Learn More, Volunteer | Watch My Interviews With Our Intrepid Incumbents Expanding The Map - Support Our Audacious Expansion Fund (2026-2032) Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $250,000 goal, $44,000 raised - Join our new campaign to invest in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas | Donate To All Five State Parties | Watch my interviews with Alaska Chair Eric Croft, Florida Chair Nikki Fried, Iowa Chair Rita Hart and Texas Chair Kendall Scudder Our updated fundraising goals are now for the end of the year, December 31st, except for the 2025 races, which are now for Election Day, 2025. Defending America, Winning The Big Argument With Trump - We have two recommended actions today: 1 - Call Your Senators and Member Of The House And Demand They Act Upon Our Four-Part Agenda - We need to be loud people, very, very loud and make the case for our our emerging four part agenda. Demand that your Senators and House Member work to keep the government open and Roll back Trump’s terrible, illegal tariffs that are re-igniting inflation, driving up prices, shifting the tax burden from the wealthy to working people, hurting small businesses and farmers, reviving tyrannical “taxation without representation,” and alienating governments and people throughout the world Defend our democracy, rule of law and our liberties by blocking the expansion of ICE, restore due process to our immigration system, defend the 1st Amendment, and end the use of the military on our streets and the occupations of our cities Fight Trump’s war on science, higher education and our public health; reverse - not delay - the cuts to the ACA and Medicaid; support and co-sponsor Rep. Haley Stevens’ effort to Impeach and remove Robert Kennedy Stand with Ukraine and our European allies, and far more forcefully challenge Trump’s traitorous efforts to sell out the US and the West to Russia and China 2 - Bring “Resolutions Of Condemnation” To Your Community - Inspired by the tactics of our Founders learn about how Hopium members are advancing “Resolutions of Condemnation” in their communities across the country and consider bringing this initiative to your state, country or city/town. Be sure to check out our new discussion with Deborah Potter and Rachel Poliner who have passed resolutions in New Mexico and Boston, and offer advice on how to get a resolution passed in your own community. Remarkably, members of this community have passed or are advancing 84 (!!!!) resolution projects in 22 states + DC. Can we get to all 50 states by the fall election? Finally, please self-report your activities to our daily paid subscriber chat. These reports help inspire all of us to do more and fight harder! Been impressive to see how many of you remain involved in local, in person protests of all kinds in your communities. Great to see! Keep working hard all. We have a country to save and a future to reclaim for our kids and grandkids, together - Simon