October 28, 2025 • 11 mins
When the British burned the White House in 1814, it was an act of war.
When Donald Trump builds a ballroom in 2025, it’s treated like one.
This episode of The Tenth Man dismantles the media hysteria over the so-called “White House demolition.”
You’ll hear how every administration has rebuilt, remodeled, or re-imagined that house — and why this one practical addition triggers so much panic.
We look at the double standards, the real-world need for a secure event hall, and the left’s strange obsession with controlling how other people spend their own money.
Because in Washington, outrage isn’t about architecture — it’s about ownership.
Listen now for common sense, history, and a little humor from The Tenth Man.
Commentary on trending issues brought to you with a moderate perspective.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:11):
In 1814, the British burned theWhite House to the ground.
Now Donald Trump's doingsomething just as bad, building
a ballroom.
Building improvements are athreat to democracy today.
On the 10th Man, 200 years ago,the British burned the White
(00:37):
House.
This week, the press saysTrump's doing something just as
bad.
He's building a ballroom.
The East Wing gone.
The residents untouched, theoutrage manufactured.
It's privately funded, built forsecurity, and large enough to
host an inauguration indoors, sonaturally the media call it an
(01:00):
ego trip.
A vinyl tent is elegant.
A permanent hall is tyranny.
When Obama builds it's legacy,when Trump builds, its
blasphemy.
Apparently drywall now threatensdemocracy.
Maybe the real scandal isn'tthat he's building too much, but
that he's doing it right.
(01:21):
Let's fix a basicmisunderstanding.
People confuse the White Housebrand with a White House
building.
Disney's Cinderella Castle isthe brand.
The gift shop is not.
Likewise the residence, theNorth facade everyone
photographs, is the brand.
And no one is touching that.
(01:42):
The East Wing, that's backstage.
Offices, corridors storage, mostvisitors couldn't find it with a
map and no one identifies itwith the White House.
So when critics gasp that theballroom dwarfs the residents.
They're comparing the castle tothe gift shop and calling it
(02:04):
blasphemy.
The East Room, the White House'slargest ceremonial hall hosts
most state dinners, pressconferences, and medal
ceremonies.
It's small by modern standards,but big enough for those events.
And it's less than half the sizeof Buckingham Palace's ballroom.
(02:26):
So when dignitaries crowdshoulder to shoulder and the
orchestra's wedged in behind thecurtains, it's not really very
grand.
It's more gridlock.
Critics complain that the newballroom overshadows the living
quarters.
So what.
Out where I live, people put uppole barns big enough to hold
all the toys, the boat, thetractor, the snowmobiles, the
(02:48):
quad.
While the house can be a doublewide.
The point isn't what looksbigger, it's what does the job.
The White House is where thework of a nation happens and the
workspace ought to match themission.
Before we act like the place wascarved in stone, Well, maybe it
is, but remember, the WhiteHouse has never been static.
(03:14):
President Truman gutted it downto the shell.
FDR built the east wing.
Every generation added wiring,air conditioning, press
facilities, and earlierpresidents could expand outward.
Today we can't.
Yeah, real estate just ran out.
Demolition is necessary, andthat's just geometry.
(03:36):
And that brings us to the doublestandard, the part of every
Washington story where outragegets selective.
They laughed at obscene statuesof Trump and Jeffrey Epstein in
the Capitol, but a ballroom isundignified.
They mocked Nancy Reagan's chinaalso privately donated.
(03:57):
Yet they praise Obama's publiclyfunded Chicago Center.
If Trump pays for it himselfwith donor money, it's buying
influence.
If taxpayers pay its investmentin democracy, heads they win.
Tails, he loses.
And if Trump had askedpermission,'cause that's one
thing they're complaining about,what would've happened then?
(04:20):
He'd still be waiting oncommittee number 15 and the
outrage would still be there andWashington just idolizes
process, but it kind of fearsactual completion.
If episodes like this are theantidote you need, then
subscribe and tell a friend whostill trusts headlines over
history.
(04:41):
Let me ask you now to like,subscribe and click the bell
because logic and humor stillbeat outrage.
If this episode is making yousmirk or think, then please like
and share.
Someone out there still believesthe British burned it again.
Now while that noise hides thereal question, why build it at
all?
And the answer isn't politics orego, it's practical.
(05:05):
For decades, the White House hashosted its largest events under
temporary tents on the SouthLawn.
Everyone knows the routine.
They're expensive.
It's weather prone, it's laborintensive, and let's talk about
some other things that reallymatter.
Even the most luxurious tent isstill a vinyl box, pretending to
be a ballroom.
(05:27):
They use porta Johns, climatecontrol is uneven.
Air gets stale, and Washingtonhumidity always wins.
Guests fan their programs whilecondensation forms on the
glasses and the acoustics.
There's no acoustics.
There's no echo.
The problem is sound intrusion,outside noise, leaks in traffic,
(05:48):
construction, rain on the roof.
A state dinner shouldn't have topause for a passing motorcycle.
A permanent hall, on the otherhand, provides controlled
climate, true sound, isolation,and dignity that doesn't sag in
the weather.
With a permanent ballroom, wecould host dinners indoors any
time without checking theweather forecast.
(06:10):
And every time a tent goes up,the SE service has to start from
zero on security, newperimeters, routes, screening
zones.
And each structure creates afresh vulnerability.
A permanent reinforced ballroomcan be secured once and then
monitored continuously, andthat's not luxury.
(06:30):
It's logic.
You harden the space and thisone will have bulletproof
windows, and you stop gamblingwith every guest lists.
And diplomacy runs on timing.
Right now, a president can't saylet's host them next week
because the venue doesn't existuntil the rental trucks arrive.
That kills any ad hoc events,any last minute summits,
(06:52):
briefings, memorials, orcelebrations.
A standing venue restoresflexibility, flip on the lights,
and America can welcome gueststomorrow morning without waiting
for the tent company.
And that's a huge difference.
This new ballroom isn't aboutgrandeur, it's about readiness
and protection.
(07:12):
It gives the White House apermanent climate controlled,
secure space for any officialoccasion.
Even an indoor presidentialinauguration of conditions or
credible threats ever demanded.
It in an age of multipleassassination attempts, that's
not extravagance, it's prudence.
A superpower shouldn't need aweather forecast or a sniper
(07:35):
report to inaugurate its leadersafely.
Of course, when practicalityfails, critics reach for the
oldest weapon of all money.
Who's paying for this?
They ask as if that were thescandal.
If taxpayers fund it, it'swaste.
If donors fund it, it'sinfluence.
The government will own theballroom.
(07:56):
Future presidents will use it.
That's called a public assetpaid for by private generosity.
Meanwhile, look at California,where Gavin Newsom is planning a
presidential bid.
Their capital renovation tops abillion, a billion and a half or
more.
In taxpayer money, that's justone state.
(08:18):
A few months ago you saw thetreasury department chastised
because they spent billions ontheir own remodel.
Taxpayer money, and Obama'slibrary is eating public park
land along with public funds,not a peep from the media.
Apparently outrage is not aboutmoney.
It's about who the builder is.
(08:38):
And remember those reporters whoscolded Nancy Reagan over the
China, which was donated, butthen laughed at the Epstein and
Trump effigies.
They're not really guardingdecorum.
They're guarding a narrative,And that naturally raises
another question.
Why demolish the East Wing?
After all, isn't that historic?
(09:00):
What's special about the EastWing?
Nothing.
Well, actually it is special.
It's dedicated to the first ladyin her staff.
But Melania Trump never used heroffice there.
Hillary Clinton famously refusedto, it was a headline in 1993.
If she'd become president, shehad probably have been famous
(09:21):
for tearing it down as a symbolof the patriarchy and then been
praised for her modernattitudes.
As we said earlier, real estateeventually runs out.
The White House hit that limitdecades ago.
If you want a permanent, secure,adequately sized venue, you
replace something and the EastWing isn't on brand.
(09:43):
Maybe someday we'll need a newpresidential residence for now,
this ballroom is the perfectaddition.
It gives statecraft a properroom and lets the house be a
home.
If the ballroom dwarfs theresidence, maybe the residence
is too small for modernpresidential life.
And let's address the buzzwordof the week that Trump is
(10:05):
remaking the White House in hisown image.
Well, yeah.
Leadership always leavesfingerprints, and he does live
there after all.
And Jefferson sketched Trumanrebuilt.
FDR added.
Every president imposes order onchaos and his own version of
order.
(10:25):
The difference here is Trumpwon't even get to use it.
Completion of the ballroom comesafter his term.
So if he's doing it for his ego,it's a rather delayed one.
Critics act as if leaving a markas narcissism, but if the
founders thought that way, we'dstill be meeting under tents,
period.
(10:45):
Everything would be a tent.
But when future presidents, manyof them Democrats now denouncing
it, host their galas there,they'll call it tradition.
And that's fine.
Tradition is what common senseis called a generation later.
A And finally, let's sum up thepattern we've all come to
expect.
(11:05):
The outrage template.
If he builds his vain.
If he doesn't, he's negligent.
And if it works, it'sundemocratic.
The usual non journalism reflex.
The British destroyed the WhiteHouse with fire.
Today's critics attack it withspin and both just hate a house
(11:28):
that stands.
The residence the brand, theCinderella Castle remains.
The East Wing, the backstagearea makes room for a ballroom
fit for a modern superpower.
Large enough to host aninauguration indoors, secure
enough to protect the guests whoattend.
(11:50):
That's not an ego trip.
That's engineering with commonsense.
Trump isn't desecratingdemocracy.
He's solving a logisticalproblem the capital has rented
its way around for decades, andif that feels like heresy, it's
only because Washington hasconfused symbols with sanity.
(12:11):
You've been listening to the10th Man, breaking the Echo
Chamber with facts, history anda sense of proportion.
I.
In 1814, the British burned theWhite House to the ground.
Now Donald Trump's doingsomething just as bad, building
a ballroom.
Building improvements are athreat to democracy today.
On the 10th Man, 200 years ago,the British burned the White
(00:37):
House.
This week, the press saysTrump's doing something just as
bad.
He's building a ballroom.
The East Wing gone.
The residents untouched, theoutrage manufactured.
It's privately funded, built forsecurity, and large enough to
host an inauguration indoors, sonaturally the media call it an
(01:00):
ego trip.
A vinyl tent is elegant.
A permanent hall is tyranny.
When Obama builds it's legacy,when Trump builds, its
blasphemy.
Apparently drywall now threatensdemocracy.
Maybe the real scandal isn'tthat he's building too much, but
that he's doing it right.
(01:21):
Let's fix a basicmisunderstanding.
People confuse the White Housebrand with a White House
building.
Disney's Cinderella Castle isthe brand.
The gift shop is not.
Likewise the residence, theNorth facade everyone
photographs, is the brand.
And no one is touching that.
(01:42):
The East Wing, that's backstage.
Offices, corridors storage, mostvisitors couldn't find it with a
map and no one identifies itwith the White House.
So when critics gasp that theballroom dwarfs the residents.
They're comparing the castle tothe gift shop and calling it
(02:04):
blasphemy.
The East Room, the White House'slargest ceremonial hall hosts
most state dinners, pressconferences, and medal
ceremonies.
It's small by modern standards,but big enough for those events.
And it's less than half the sizeof Buckingham Palace's ballroom.
(02:26):
So when dignitaries crowdshoulder to shoulder and the
orchestra's wedged in behind thecurtains, it's not really very
grand.
It's more gridlock.
Critics complain that the newballroom overshadows the living
quarters.
So what.
Out where I live, people put uppole barns big enough to hold
all the toys, the boat, thetractor, the snowmobiles, the
(02:48):
quad.
While the house can be a doublewide.
The point isn't what looksbigger, it's what does the job.
The White House is where thework of a nation happens and the
workspace ought to match themission.
Before we act like the place wascarved in stone, Well, maybe it
is, but remember, the WhiteHouse has never been static.
(03:14):
President Truman gutted it downto the shell.
FDR built the east wing.
Every generation added wiring,air conditioning, press
facilities, and earlierpresidents could expand outward.
Today we can't.
Yeah, real estate just ran out.
Demolition is necessary, andthat's just geometry.
(03:36):
And that brings us to the doublestandard, the part of every
Washington story where outragegets selective.
They laughed at obscene statuesof Trump and Jeffrey Epstein in
the Capitol, but a ballroom isundignified.
They mocked Nancy Reagan's chinaalso privately donated.
(03:57):
Yet they praise Obama's publiclyfunded Chicago Center.
If Trump pays for it himselfwith donor money, it's buying
influence.
If taxpayers pay its investmentin democracy, heads they win.
Tails, he loses.
And if Trump had askedpermission,'cause that's one
thing they're complaining about,what would've happened then?
(04:20):
He'd still be waiting oncommittee number 15 and the
outrage would still be there andWashington just idolizes
process, but it kind of fearsactual completion.
If episodes like this are theantidote you need, then
subscribe and tell a friend whostill trusts headlines over
history.
(04:41):
Let me ask you now to like,subscribe and click the bell
because logic and humor stillbeat outrage.
If this episode is making yousmirk or think, then please like
and share.
Someone out there still believesthe British burned it again.
Now while that noise hides thereal question, why build it at
all?
And the answer isn't politics orego, it's practical.
(05:05):
For decades, the White House hashosted its largest events under
temporary tents on the SouthLawn.
Everyone knows the routine.
They're expensive.
It's weather prone, it's laborintensive, and let's talk about
some other things that reallymatter.
Even the most luxurious tent isstill a vinyl box, pretending to
be a ballroom.
(05:27):
They use porta Johns, climatecontrol is uneven.
Air gets stale, and Washingtonhumidity always wins.
Guests fan their programs whilecondensation forms on the
glasses and the acoustics.
There's no acoustics.
There's no echo.
The problem is sound intrusion,outside noise, leaks in traffic,
(05:48):
construction, rain on the roof.
A state dinner shouldn't have topause for a passing motorcycle.
A permanent hall, on the otherhand, provides controlled
climate, true sound, isolation,and dignity that doesn't sag in
the weather.
With a permanent ballroom, wecould host dinners indoors any
time without checking theweather forecast.
(06:10):
And every time a tent goes up,the SE service has to start from
zero on security, newperimeters, routes, screening
zones.
And each structure creates afresh vulnerability.
A permanent reinforced ballroomcan be secured once and then
monitored continuously, andthat's not luxury.
(06:30):
It's logic.
You harden the space and thisone will have bulletproof
windows, and you stop gamblingwith every guest lists.
And diplomacy runs on timing.
Right now, a president can't saylet's host them next week
because the venue doesn't existuntil the rental trucks arrive.
That kills any ad hoc events,any last minute summits,
(06:52):
briefings, memorials, orcelebrations.
A standing venue restoresflexibility, flip on the lights,
and America can welcome gueststomorrow morning without waiting
for the tent company.
And that's a huge difference.
This new ballroom isn't aboutgrandeur, it's about readiness
and protection.
(07:12):
It gives the White House apermanent climate controlled,
secure space for any officialoccasion.
Even an indoor presidentialinauguration of conditions or
credible threats ever demanded.
It in an age of multipleassassination attempts, that's
not extravagance, it's prudence.
A superpower shouldn't need aweather forecast or a sniper
(07:35):
report to inaugurate its leadersafely.
Of course, when practicalityfails, critics reach for the
oldest weapon of all money.
Who's paying for this?
They ask as if that were thescandal.
If taxpayers fund it, it'swaste.
If donors fund it, it'sinfluence.
The government will own theballroom.
(07:56):
Future presidents will use it.
That's called a public assetpaid for by private generosity.
Meanwhile, look at California,where Gavin Newsom is planning a
presidential bid.
Their capital renovation tops abillion, a billion and a half or
more.
In taxpayer money, that's justone state.
(08:18):
A few months ago you saw thetreasury department chastised
because they spent billions ontheir own remodel.
Taxpayer money, and Obama'slibrary is eating public park
land along with public funds,not a peep from the media.
Apparently outrage is not aboutmoney.
It's about who the builder is.
(08:38):
And remember those reporters whoscolded Nancy Reagan over the
China, which was donated, butthen laughed at the Epstein and
Trump effigies.
They're not really guardingdecorum.
They're guarding a narrative,And that naturally raises
another question.
Why demolish the East Wing?
After all, isn't that historic?
(09:00):
What's special about the EastWing?
Nothing.
Well, actually it is special.
It's dedicated to the first ladyin her staff.
But Melania Trump never used heroffice there.
Hillary Clinton famously refusedto, it was a headline in 1993.
If she'd become president, shehad probably have been famous
(09:21):
for tearing it down as a symbolof the patriarchy and then been
praised for her modernattitudes.
As we said earlier, real estateeventually runs out.
The White House hit that limitdecades ago.
If you want a permanent, secure,adequately sized venue, you
replace something and the EastWing isn't on brand.
(09:43):
Maybe someday we'll need a newpresidential residence for now,
this ballroom is the perfectaddition.
It gives statecraft a properroom and lets the house be a
home.
If the ballroom dwarfs theresidence, maybe the residence
is too small for modernpresidential life.
And let's address the buzzwordof the week that Trump is
(10:05):
remaking the White House in hisown image.
Well, yeah.
Leadership always leavesfingerprints, and he does live
there after all.
And Jefferson sketched Trumanrebuilt.
FDR added.
Every president imposes order onchaos and his own version of
order.
(10:25):
The difference here is Trumpwon't even get to use it.
Completion of the ballroom comesafter his term.
So if he's doing it for his ego,it's a rather delayed one.
Critics act as if leaving a markas narcissism, but if the
founders thought that way, we'dstill be meeting under tents,
period.
(10:45):
Everything would be a tent.
But when future presidents, manyof them Democrats now denouncing
it, host their galas there,they'll call it tradition.
And that's fine.
Tradition is what common senseis called a generation later.
A And finally, let's sum up thepattern we've all come to
expect.
(11:05):
The outrage template.
If he builds his vain.
If he doesn't, he's negligent.
And if it works, it'sundemocratic.
The usual non journalism reflex.
The British destroyed the WhiteHouse with fire.
Today's critics attack it withspin and both just hate a house
(11:28):
that stands.
The residence the brand, theCinderella Castle remains.
The East Wing, the backstagearea makes room for a ballroom
fit for a modern superpower.
Large enough to host aninauguration indoors, secure
enough to protect the guests whoattend.
(11:50):
That's not an ego trip.
That's engineering with commonsense.
Trump isn't desecratingdemocracy.
He's solving a logisticalproblem the capital has rented
its way around for decades, andif that feels like heresy, it's
only because Washington hasconfused symbols with sanity.
(12:11):
You've been listening to the10th Man, breaking the Echo
Chamber with facts, history anda sense of proportion.
I.
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