audio version of the segment here > We need to provide some facts on the White House renovation
Jay Weber Show transcript 10-23-25
Holy cow- if I know there was this much interest in the white house ballroom and the needed renovations- I would have talked about it a lot earlier in the show yesterday and not done it as sort of a ‘toss off’ topic because I had time.
Many listeners reacted to my explanation by saying.... wow. None of that information is being made clear in the news stories.
I ‘mostly’ agree. I think the alternative and conservative news sites are covering it well as they mock the left’s attempt to make this a scandal-
But as for the normal suspects: the accomplice news outlets?
I agree, they aren’t covering it honestly or giving the historical background.
That ‘background’ is basically this: Trump is not knocking down anything historical. The east wing is basically a plain jane office building...and
Having seen the plans for the new ballroom-and knowing that Trump chose a great architect who specializes in that sort of classical architectural look- this is going to be an ‘upgrade’ from the outside and the inside.
I have no doubt that this addition will match the overall exterior of the white house and will blend in at least as well as the east wing did.
The alleged controversy is that trump is taking down at least part of the east wing so the transition to the new ballroom makes sense as a planned-out space.
Moreover, the east wing was nothing special, really. It was put up in 1902 ...and has been renovated and changed several times- to meet modern administration’s needs.
There’s nothing historical’ about it. A second story was added in 1942. It’s not really an attractive addition...nor is it as important as the west wing. Either historically or as a working space.
The West Wing is ‘literally that’. There’s the actual white house- 1600 Pennsylvania avenue- an then there are two long walkways that jut out from the ends of the mansion and one goes to the ‘west wing’, which is really a separate office building where the oval office is and all of the ‘top staffers’ who need to be around a president have their offices.It has that cabinet room you will see in meetings and the Roosevelt room you see on tv for hosting dignitaries...etc.
And then there’s the ‘East Wing’...which is lower-level staffers and the first lady’s offices...and the movie theatre...etc. And according to CBS, this renovation is tearing down the first lady’s offices, and some staff workspace-but new ones are bound to be incorporated into the renovations.
And so, nothing is really being lost, here. Whatever parts of the east wing need to be destroyed will be replaced and rebuilt during the modifications to blend into the overall white house complex.
And so, there’s no controversy here. Liberals and trump-hating elites leapt to decry it and pretend it’s controversial. It isn’t.
The hens on ‘The View’ and all sorts of Hollywood types are engaging in all sorts of misinformation-including the notion that trump is doing this at taxpayer expense.Taxpayers will pay zero for this. Be taxed zero dollars for it. It’s all private donations-which is another part of the ‘great gift to America’ Donald Trump is trying to give, here.
Hollywood dimwits made themselves look clueless yesterday
It was built in 1902...and wasn’t built on a civil war burial site. Trump isn’t knocking down independence hall, here. What bizarre misconceptions do Stephen king have about what’s taking place here?
I said yesterday, up until yesterday,
The biggest whine has been that is that this is all going ‘too fast’. It’s a major project on a historical site-Trump isn’t sharing plans...and taking public input.... He’s got bulldozers in there already and... and... Where is the permitting and zoning process? There’s been no chance to stop this through zoning laws...etc.
The answer is: presidents are exempt from all of that. Genuinely.
That’s the answer: presidents have had the sole authority to make the changes they’ve felt they needed to the white house. And nearly all of them have-in some way. Bowling lanes, a tennis court, a movie theatre, a putting green, all sorts of personal changes have been made. Obama insisted that a half-court basketball court needed to be ‘full court’. Okay. Done. In 2009. Joe Biden’s team insisted he should have a ‘fake’ oval office to give speeches from...so they built that.
...and a ballroom is what president trump feels this white house needs-after decades and decades of presidents putting up a tent on the lawn any time a president wanted to hold a reception bigger than 100 people.
I’m shocked that it took this long for a president to fix this. But trump is-and has found the private funding. 250 million at least. So far, fully funded by corporate and personal obligations from donors.
Great.
I mentioned the two Washington ‘historical commissions’ whose members have stepped up to insist they need to have a role in the decision making and planning.
No. They don’t.
One of them- some architectural commission- claimed trump was modifying the ‘people’s house’...not his house.
But Trump isn’t.
trump isn’t modifying 1600 Pennsylvania avenue, the presidential mansion- in any way. He’s modifying one of the annexes that were added on-and jut out like wings- and lead to two different buildings.
I know I’m repeating some of what I said yesterday- but this is more like modifying an outbuilding-than it is like modifying a part of the house. The house is untouched...and the modifications are away.
And given that the east wing is nothing fancy or historical? I likened it to tear down one rusty old metal shed so that you can put up a new, better one. That’s not an inaccurate comparison.
We also talked about how none of the actual White House is original.
By the late 1940s, so many internal renovations had been made on it- and so sloppily- that it was missing load-bearing walls that should have been holding up the second floor.
There was a famous incident when Truman’s piano broke through the floor. Truman would take a bath...and worry that he and the tub would crash thru at some point.
He said-if you walked on the second floor...the building seems to sway...like you were on a ship.
And so- by about 1949 or 50... Truman had ordered a total gutting-down to the original outside walls. They took it down to the stone blocks and for a while-it was a big cavern inside with nothing else-- and he and his family moved across the street to the Blair House to live until the renovations were done.
So, none of them are original.
And none of that is being touched. Trump is basically ‘putting up a better shed’ and the leftists are wigging out over nothing.
photo credit: Getty Images
Gregory Jon found this on the internet
Here’s a concise, sourced timeline of the major White House remodels & renovations since 1900 (grouped from “major overhauls” to significant expansions, room conversions, and infrastructure projects). I’m counting anything that changed structure, layout, or systems—beyond simple redecorating.
Major overhauls (structure fundamentally changed)
1902 – Theodore Roosevelt modernization: Comprehensive reorganization; executive offices moved out of the Residence and into a new “Executive Office Building” (proto–West Wing).
WHHA (en-US)
+1
1948–1952 – Truman Reconstruction: The Residence was gutted to the exterior walls and rebuilt with steel/concrete framing; two-story basement added. Truman lived at Blair House during works.
WHHA (en-US)
+2
WHHA (en-US)
+2
Large expansions & relocations (wing/office footprints changed)
1909 – Taft enlargement of the West Wing: West Wing made permanent and first Oval Office created.
WHHA (en-US)
+1
1927 – Coolidge roof/attic rebuild: Roof removed; entire third floor added (guest rooms, service rooms) and the Solarium built over the South Portico.
WHHA (en-US)
+2
WHHA (en-US)
+2
1929–1930 – Hoover rebuild after West Wing fire: Christmas Eve fire gutted the Executive Offices; Congress funded reconstruction, completed April 14, 1930.
WHHA (en-US)
+1
1934 – FDR expansion/relayout of West Wing: Office area expanded from ~15k to ~40k sq. ft.; Oval Office moved to its current southeast location by the Rose Garden; press/work spaces remade.
WHHA (en-US)
+2
WHHA (en-US)
+2
Significant room conversions, facilities & systems
1961–1963 – Kennedy restoration (public rooms): Jacqueline Kennedy’s program to restore historical authenticity of state rooms and establish the White House as a “living museum.”
WHHA (en-US)
+1
1970 – Nixon converts FDR’s indoor pool area into today’s James S. Brady Press Briefing Room (pool remains underneath).
WHHA (en-US)
+2
WHHA (en-US)
+2
1975 – Ford outdoor swimming pool added on the South Lawn (amenity but permanent site change).
WHHA (en-US)
2006–2007 – Press Briefing Room renovation: Infrastructure (A/C, electrical) and media systems replaced; reopened July 2007.
WHHA (en-US)
+1
2007 – Situation Room renovation: Modernized and reopened May 18, 2007.
George W. Bush White House Archives
+2
George W. Bush White House Archives
+2
Aug 2017 – West Wing HVAC & interiors: HVAC replacement plus lower-lobby, Navy Mess kitchen and IT/cosmetic upgrades; West Wing temporarily vacated.
Trump White House Archive
Energy-focused changes (not structural “remodels,” but notable)
1979 – Carter installs 32 solar panels (hot-water system) on the West Wing roof; later removed.
Smithsonian Magazine
+2
Smithsonian Magazine
+2
2013 – Solar added again under Obama (PV and related upgrades mentioned by the WH).
The White House