White House ballroom project has become costlier and larger than originally anticipated
Donald Trump encouraged those working on the construction of his new White House ballroom project to disregard traditional permitting, zoning, and code requirements, according to a new report.
Since announcing the project in July, Trump’s ballroom has become larger, costlier and more destructive than initially thought – raising concerns about whether the president is following historical rules when it comes to a White House addition.
The ballroom’s capacity, initially thought to be 650, has been raised to 900. Its cost has nearly doubled from $200 million to $350 million. Its construction, which Trump initially said would not interfere with the integrity of the current White House, has led to the destruction of the East Wing.
120 Comments
tanisnikana@lemmy.world · 116 pts · 254d
Yes! Disregard the code! Don’t even think about the building code!
And don’t worry, the ballroom certainly won’t fall down with you inside it, piggy!
tanisnikana@lemmy.world · 81 pts · 254d
I have never been horny before in my life, on account of being asexual, but the thought of this ballroom collapsing under shitty building practices while housing the top thousand richest bastards in society, is certainly making me feel something hormonal.
CIA_chatbot@lemmy.world · 39 pts · 254d
krashmo@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 254d
Never in your life? I always assumed asexual meant very rarely horny, not literally never. Is that common?
pennomi@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 254d
tanisnikana@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 253d
Forty years old, still a virgin. Sex-repulsed. Doesn’t cause a problem in my life. Immune to most advertising. Watching people make the same stupid mistakes about birth control time and time again, and never understanding why. My line ends with me and that’s fine.
Edit: why did people downvote my answer, and not the question asked of me? Does that mean I shouldn’t have answered, or that I should have answered in a sex-positive way, or do they straight-up think ace people aren’t real?
SuperZorro@discuss.tchncs.de · 4 pts · 253d
What about sexual pleasure like from touch and orgasm?
bagelberger@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 253d
being sex-repulsed doesn't necessarily mean you don't enjoy self-pleasure. there's not one "kind" of asexuality, there's a spectrum
tanisnikana@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 253d
But also yeah, I can’t have self-pleasure. Doesn’t work. Grosses me out besides. People act like sexual pleasure is the most important thing ever. I’m doing just fine without it. I’m not a problem to be fixed.
tanisnikana@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 253d
You already know what the answer is.
And besides, I’m intersex. Loads of people take for granted that their genitals formed well-enough.
I’m not invested in sex or discussions about it. It actually skeeves me out.
MisterFrog@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 252d
The people who downvoted are stupid, thanks for sharing :)
AbidanYre@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 254d
We should be so lucky.
It'll probably collapse on a kindergarten tour group while piggy is in Europe meeting with Putin.
Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 254d
Along those same lines, they should have a Wizard of Oz ball using the original snow recipe from the movie.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 253d
Asbestos?
Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 253d
Yeah, and as an aside, that's another Russian product for which he's advocated.
T00l_shed@lemmy.world · 69 pts · 254d
I'd be surprised if he didn't
leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 64 pts · 254d
Look on the bright side; hopefully it'll catch on fire due to an electric short, or Canada, or something, during one of Trump's shindigs and him and nine hundred of his “friends” will get trapped inside due to overcrowding and insufficient emergency exits and will burn to death in abject agony.
kmartburrito@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 254d
🤌 GORLAMI
Lemminary@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 254d
Amen. 🙏
gezero@lemmy.bowyerhub.uk · 53 pts · 254d
I am confused, what ballroom is this talking about? Do you mean the Epstein ball room? That makes sense...
Witchfire@lemmy.world · 31 pts · 254d
Yes, the Trump-Epstein Friendship Ballroom
myfunnyaccountname@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 253d
With extra gold trimmed glory holes in the men’s toilet.
daslfc@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 253d
Might even have something to do with bubbas balls
Punk_face@lemmy.zip · 40 pts · 254d
White trash doing white trash shit
kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world · 38 pts · 254d
Code requirements? Dude those are not just useless regulations. Those are for your safety and the soundness of the building. Only a complete moron signs off on a build that ignores building codes. But here we are.
Serinus@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 254d
I expect they'll probably follow code anyway? Because you know as soon as dipshit is out of there, they're going to have to inspect that thing for safety reasons. And the contractor probably doesn't want the reputation of building absolute crap.
On the other hand, if he's as good as picking construction contractors as he is at picking lawyers or cabinet positions, well...
WoodScientist@lemmy.world · 23 pts · 254d
I'm sure it will be built by a contracting company incorporated just for this purpose. And after this, it will be dissolved. They'll have no reputation to defend.
Archer@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 254d
Four Seasons Total Landscaping is about to land another big job
UnspecificGravity@infosec.pub · 16 pts · 254d
Seriously. i get ignoring zoning and permitting because fuck everyone else, but skipping CODE requirements just means your building fucking sucks.
Duamerthrax@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 254d
I've seen what happens when a construction guy gets to build their own buildings out of sight of inspectors. It's not pretty.
AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 253d
Now we know how his buildings are made. It's probably best not to live in, or even next to one.
Mastengwe@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 254d
Shhhhhhh! Let him play in his castle. It keeps him quiet.
magnetosphere@fedia.io · 38 pts · 254d
All he’s doing is giving a future president an excuse to tear it down. Plus, visiting politicians and influential businesspeople usually don’t like to hang out in unsafe buildings.
partofthevoice@lemmy.zip · 11 pts · 254d
Can’t say as much about submarines, though.
Iheartcheese@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 253d
That's never getting old.
Treczoks@lemmy.world · 33 pts · 254d
Ignoring the law just because you were told to is no excuse in court.
myrmidex@belgae.social · 10 pts · 253d
wir haben es nicht gewußt!
Archangel1313@lemmy.ca · 32 pts · 254d
Everything he's doing is probably going to have to be torn down and rebuilt.
forrgott@lemmy.zip · 19 pts · 254d
Hey, Canada, that's kind of your thing isn't it? Seriously, though, please just burn the while fucking White House to the ground! (again) Cause we're never gonna be able to get Diaper Donnie's stench out, anyway...
Zamboni_Driver@lemmy.ca · 16 pts · 254d
Uh, it looks like you guys are well on your way to burning it down without our help.
grue@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 254d
FTFY.
Even if by some miracle it isn't an unsafe, condemned piece of shit, it's still a blight and a travesty of historical proportions that will need to be corrected by restoring it to the previous design.
Kraven_the_Hunter@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 254d
Just make sure those same fuckin billionaires who donated for this pony up the money for it's restoration, too.
CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 253d
That seems like a feature not a bug. I don'thave an issue with tearing literally everything down that's tied to him.
Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca · 24 pts · 254d
I think we Canadians would be happy to help with any extensive remodeling your White House requires.
Maybe you can paint it orange this time.
khepri@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 254d
yeah come give it the ol 1812 special please
AA5B@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 253d
I’ll start a gofundme!
resipsaloquitur@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 253d
Wouldn’t it be a shame if the Epstein Ballroom collapsed in on Donald?
wowwoweowza@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 253d
He’ll blame THAT on Obama.
IzzyJ@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 253d
If the ceiling don't land on him, which would be a horrifically ironic way to go
resipsaloquitur@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 253d
I’d say 60-40 Biden or Obama.
olympicyes@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 253d
That’s not going to happen because it’s not going to be built. The next president is going to inherit a demolition site and the Republicans are going to complain that the Democrats are denigrating the office of the president by failing to deal with the construction site.
ceenote@lemmy.world · 22 pts · 254d
If that ballroom is finished by the end of his term, I'll eat my shoes.
FBJimmy@lemmus.org · 29 pts · 254d
If the US gets a new president in 2029, I'll be devastated if they don't take the opportunity to do a major speach or something against the backdrop of a half derelict East Wing - it would be iconic.
grue@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 254d
If Trump leaves office willingly before it's completed, I'll eat mine.
Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip · 7 pts · 254d
I'm sure he's demanding all the kickbacks up front. That's half the point of this monstrosity after all.
grue@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 254d
Sure, but he's not going to leave office willingly regardless.
Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 253d
You're right, he'll probably croak before then
leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 254d
That, and immunity.
Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip · 0 pts · 253d
This is a non sequitur
leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 253d
Sorry, I thought you were talking about his whole presidency, like the comment you were replying to, not just the ballroom specifically.
Asfalttikyntaja@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 254d
If I don’t get pay rise, I have to eat mine.
aeronmelon@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 254d
It’s moving right along, just like the wall.
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 22 pts · 254d
They'll have to tear it down inside of ten years, I guarantee it.
Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org · 22 pts · 254d
It's the same playbook as his father in NYC.
gustofwind@lemmy.world · 20 pts · 254d
It’s probably filled with foreign listening devices anyway and will need to be completely destroyed
Rhoeri@lemmy.world · 20 pts · 254d
Please let this end the way I hope it will…..
Dogyote@slrpnk.net · 37 pts · 254d
With an electrical fire in a ballroom full of 900 of Trump's enablers and the doors fail to open due to corner cutting?
TimeSquirrel@kbin.melroy.org · 8 pts · 253d
One major part of fire code in most areas I've ever worked in is that the door access control system must be tied into the fire alarm so an alarm event will kill power to any doors with maglocks. Every door also needs its own exit button to again directly cut power if the automatic motion detector fails to let anyone out. Let's hope those were the things missed.
Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club · 2 pts · 253d
Were megacorp CEOs/biggest owners invited too?
tehn00bi@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 253d
This feels like a Nero burning Rome moment.
TargaryenTKE@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 253d
Funny thing is, even Nero wasn't this blatantly corrupt and evil. Most of the myth of the 'fiddling while Rome burned' story came as propaganda from his enemies (long after he was dead too). What we're seeing here is undeniable proof that Trump is the biggest POS in America
JcbAzPx@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 253d
A DC burner instead of a CD burner.
tehn00bi@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 253d
Took me a second.
nfamwap@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 253d
Bravo, sir.
colourlessidea@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 253d
Simply brilliant
Jumbie@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 252d
You win.
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goldfndr@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 252d
Tip:
In markdown, add two spaces at the end of a line for a linebreak.
As is, your art is spread to 2 or 3 columns on a wide screen.
Jumbie@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 252d
You da man.
Show me all your ways!
EDIT: I’m on mobile. What happens if you copy/paste it in your format? Will it look good for you and broken for me?
Rhaedas@fedia.io · 15 pts · 254d
"No one knows more about construction than me."
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · 11 pts · 253d
so, same standards as his NY condos.
BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today · 10 pts · 253d
What a surprise? Trump is cheating again! Who woulda thunk it, other than EVERYBODY?
And in this case, cheating is even stupider. He's not a normal developer in this case, he's not paying for this, he doesn't have to wait for anything, he can expedite anything he wants. There is no reason to not do this by the book, but Trump is one of those guys (I've known several) who when offered a choice between the honest way, and the dishonest way, they will take the dishonest way every time, because they think that somehow it will get them something extra, even if it doesn't. It's just their nature to cheat at everything.
But the Dems assure us that the 2024 election was totally "fair & square," and Donald Trump didn't cheat in the only election that would literally keep him from a life sentence in prison. Sure, he's cheated on literally EVERYTHING ELSE IN HIS LIFE, just for fun, but he didn't cheat to keep himself out of prison. Makes sense.
No wonder Democrats lose every election.
kbobabob@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 9 pts · 254d
Headline says he told them to disregard but the first sentence says he encouraged them to disregard.
Pick one and make it accurate...
AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 254d
He has a history of destroying historical buildings if he has any opportunity.
khepri@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 254d
And later is says he "told" them a second time, however are we to untangle this Gordian knot of language???
phoenixz@lemmy.ca · 9 pts · 253d
You don't say! And nobody except everybody expected this?
The only other unsurprising thing here is that they managed to balloon it like that while ignoring building permits and code, as many times those cause the ballooning in some way. Incompetence and corruption go far too with ballooning though
olympicyes@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 253d
The Art of the Upsell.
Zugyuk@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 254d
Burned down, fell over, sank into the swamp
JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 253d
Would be hilarious if the schematics of the ultra secret surveillance hardware in and around the wing get leaked to a foreign party.
driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br · 11 pts · 253d
You can bet they're Israeli and Russian contractors working on planting as many bugs as they can
phoenixz@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 253d
Why?
Why would it have to? I mean, in pretty sure its designed and built by foreign parties, at this point
TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 253d
Which one? I thought they were already in CC
_Nico198X_@europe.pub · 7 pts · 253d
the extent to which i don't care about this is astonishing.
AA5B@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 253d
We all should care. Not only is the east wing destroyed but that’s $350M taxpayers money down the drain. If it doesn’t meet building code we’ll also be on the hook to rebuild it. This is yet more harm to the country and its people.
…… while I’m aware taco Don claimed to have secret private donors, does anyone remember how it went for Mexico paying for his stupid wall?
tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip · 7 pts · 253d
In my fantasy world the next president will blow up the ballroom with literal dynamite, and then install a row of portable toilets near the white house with dump's stupid fucking face as the toilet seat
Bytemeister@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 253d
I think it should be turned into a homeless shelter.
You shouldn't sit in a seat of such power and prestige without being forced to reconcile the most downtrodden and in-need citizens you are serving.
Anyway, vote for me in in 2028. My platform is, I'm tired of watching you all fuck this up.
clunkplunk@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 253d
Are you less than 60 years old?
Bytemeister@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 253d
Yes, and with enough margin to serve an unconstitutional number of terms and still be under 60.
clunkplunk@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 253d
Bytemeister 2028!
Bytemeister@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 253d
I don't want the job, I'm just tired of watching other people royally fuck it up.
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 253d
You mean 80 years old?
corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 253d
Of course. The plan is to do something for those who most need a leg-up, and plans like those don't come from a cohort raised in an era of self-reliance myth.
Ah. Right. Less than 60. No chance of getting elected.
Except maybe if you're a stylish dude with good policies you can become mayor of a big city and also woo the commander in cheese.
AoC/Mamdani 2028? Kick out the bootstraps?
WizardofFrobozz@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 253d
Stop clutching your pearls and buy guns.
Americans and ignoring the obvious solutions- can’t think of a more on-brand way to handle this
tehn00bi@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 252d
The gestapo feels emboldened to do black bag raids because they are certain the targets aren’t armed.
WizardofFrobozz@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 252d
Correct. 10 or so armed citizens have n every US neighborhood waiting for ICE to show up would have a chilling effect on their shit pretty fucking quickly.
sturmblast@lemmy.world · -2 pts · 252d
Violence is not the solution. Justice is the solution.
WizardofFrobozz@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 252d
Yeah, violence definitely isn’t the only thing that’s ever stopped fascists
Dyskolos@lemmy.zip · 6 pts · 253d
ChaoticEntropy@feddit.uk · 4 pts · 253d
"Rules aren't for rulers."
tym@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 253d
0_o7@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 254d
Taking others land without permission is on brand of "American values" tho.
He's only going back to its roots
MehBlah@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 253d
So when this orange despot is gone the whole place will be condemned until it can be proven safe.
CitizenKong@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 253d
I just hope it collapses around him, taking his largest donors with him. That would be a nice bit of poetic justice.
lmmarsano@lemmynsfw.com · 5 pts · 254d
presidential death trap
CtrlAltDefeat@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 253d
Not surprising. Like it also won't be surprising when the whole thing collapses on top of some elitist cult.
k0e3@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 252d
Haha, I hope it collapses on him.
ToiletFlushShowerScream@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 253d
And how many listening devices?
Fedizen@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 253d
Skipping fire permitting on a ballroom is an amazingly stupid idea. Hopefully they don't all burn alive in the giant dumpster they're building. crosses fingers
abbiistabbii@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 4 pts · 253d
What if the Cybertruck was a building
ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one · 3 pts · 253d
Oh no. A bunch of billionaires died in a fire with the President.
I think I should have soup for dinner tonight.
shapeofthings@piefed.ca · 3 pts · 254d
The mad King's Follies.
melsaskca@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 252d
Real cost: 50 million. What Trump'll charge: 350 million. What Trump'll pay: ???
betanumerus@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 253d
cazssiew@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 253d
'Historical' rules? 'Traditional' requirements? The fuck is up with this word choice? This article's making it sound like those are some quaint old family traditions.
Sam_Bass@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 253d
Fuck that orange SOB. He's gonna have a lot of hell to pay before long
Socialjusticewarrior@lemmy.world · -7 pts · 253d