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Former first lady expresses dismay over demolition: ‘That’s not our house. That’s the people’s house’
Joe SommerladWednesday 26 November 2025 13:52 GMTComments
CloseDonald Trump demolishes East Wing of the White House to make way for $300m ballroom
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Former First Lady Michelle Obama has expressed her dismay over President Donald Trump’s brutal demolition of the East Wing of the White House to make way for his new ballroom, commenting: “I felt a loss for us as a nation.”
Speaking on Jamie Kern Lima’s podcast Tuesday, Obama was asked about the construction project laying waste to the wing usually reserved for presidential spouses and gave an emotional answer.
“I think in my body, I felt confusion because I’m like, who are we? What do we value? And who decides that?” she said.
open image in galleryFormer first lady Michelle Obama expresses her dismay over President Donald Trump's White House ballroom project to podcaster Jamie Kern Lima on Tuesday November 25, 2025 (Jamie Kern Lima/YouTube)“That’s the thing that’s going through my head a lot lately. Who are we? What are the rules? Because I’m confused by what are our norms and our mores – not the laws – but how do we live together? That’s the part of it that hurts.
“I think I felt a loss for us as a nation, but personally, you know… that’s not our house. That’s the people’s house.”
Construction began on the 90,000-square-foot ballroom at the height of the recent government shutdown, when many federal workers were going without pay, enabling Democrats to liken Trump to the last queen of France, Marie Antoinette, for the undertaking.
The $300 million project, crowdfunded with donations from some of Trump’s wealthiest allies, is just the president’s latest attempt to refashion 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in his own gaudy image, from decking out the Oval Office in gold to paving over Jackie Kennedy’s Rose Garden to make way for a concrete patio like the one at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Obama is by no means alone in her distaste for the project, which occurred despite Trump promising in July that it would not “interfere” with the East Wing and subsequently admitting that the destruction wrought could have been avoided.
open image in galleryTrump shows off concept art for his forthcoming White House ballroom in the Oval Office last month (Reuters)Her successor, Melania Trump, is also reportedly not in favour, and a majority of Americans expressed their disapproval in a poll conducted late last month for ABC News, Ipsos, and The Washington Post.
Perhaps unwisely tempting fate, Democrats have already begun discussing what they will do with the space if their candidate wins the 2028 presidential election, with Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin proposing turning it into a museum of democracy.
Michelle Obama has become increasingly vocal about her frustrations over the national direction in recent months, but declared recently that the U.S. is still “not ready” to have a female president.
“As we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain’t ready,” she told actor Tracee Ellis Ross at a live event.
“That’s why I’m like, don’t even look at me about running, because you all are lying. You’re not ready for a woman. You are not. So don’t waste my time.”
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