A clear majority of Americans oppose President Donald Trump’s demolition of the White House East Wing to construct a 9,000 square foot ballroom, new polling data has shown.
Fifty-six percent of Americans are against the demolition plan, a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos survey revealed on Thursday, with 45 percent stating they “strongly” oppose it.
In contrast, just 28 percent of the public supports tearing down the East Wing and replacing it with a ballroom, which is being financed by $300 million in private donations.
The issue, as with most hot-button topics, reveals a stark partisan divide that breaks down largely along party lines. A staggering 88 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of Independents oppose the project, with the vast majority of support coming from Republican voters, 62 percent of whom favor constructing the ballroom.
The intensity of the support, however, is vastly asymmetrical, with 78 percent of Democrats strongly opposed to the plan while just 35 percent of GOP voters strongly support it.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has defended the project by arguing that a larger event space has long been needed at the White House, and has boasted that construction will not be funded by taxpayer dollars. Trump, meanwhile, insisted that “people are loving it” when asked about the construction during an overseas trip to Tokyo earlier this week.
Critics, however, have attacked the president for his lack of oversight before demolishing the historical structure, while watchdog groups have questioned his decision to fund the project with private donations.
“The American people don’t like change, and when they see these changes, they are often uncomfortable with them,” presidential historian Tevi Troy told The Washington Post.
“Presidents don’t usually rush into doing these types of construction projects,” he added.
Jon Favreau, host of left-leaning podcast Pod Save America, told the publication that the demolition story “broke through in a way I hadn’t anticipated.”
Despite the destruction of the East Wing being a less pressing issue than other problems and scandals gripping the country, “I guess that doesn’t matter as much if it grabs people’s attention and becomes a data point in a larger argument about Trump acting like a corrupt third-world dictator,” he added.
Other Democrats have echoed Favreau’s sentiment, expressing surprise that the reaction to the ballroom project has elicited more outrage among the general public than tariffs, cuts to Medicare, or the ongoing government shutdown.
“Let’s be clear: Trump’s not just wasting money, he’s sending a message: No health care for you. A ballroom for him,” Sen. Chuck Schumer said following the East Wing’s destruction.
