'Reeks of bribery': Ex-Trump aide warns Trump's fancy ballroom a money laundering scheme
President Donald Trump's former White House aide shredded him for demolishing the East Wing of the iconic, centuries-old building that represents the American presidency, and warned the project "reeks of bribery and corruption."
Speaking to MSNBC's Chris Jansing, former Trump deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews sounded the alarm about the "corruption" involved in the project itself.
Trump claimed his planned, $250 million ballroom would not be built at taxpayer expense. First, he claimed he would pay for it himself, but now he's recruiting "friends" like Meta, Amazon and Palantir Technologies to donate funds for the project, and Matthews lamented the East Wing's destruction.
"I think for the American people, this is tough to watch. We look at these images of the East Wing just being completely destroyed," Matthews said after remembering her time working in the structure for first lady Melania Trump. "This is not Trump's house, this is the people's house, and there can be arguments to be made if this ballroom was necessary. [Then] he could have gone through the proper channels for this to get approved."
Matthews said that the broader discussion about the project "just reeks of this broader narrative of the reckless destruction taking place under this administration, and not just that, but the corruption. Because you look at the list of these donors, you see companies like Meta, Amazon, Palantir. These are all companies that have bent the knee to him and then have been awarded contracts, and so it just reeks of bribery and corruption."
She went on to call it "disappointing" that the historic building was "going to be replaced with this monument to lavishness and the gaudiness of Trump."
Interior designer Sarah Boardman has spent the last several days on Threads calling attention to possible corruption around the project.
"I ran these numbers in August. Just as a note, this ballroom costing $200 million and supposedly 90,000 ft is about $2,200 a square foot," she wrote Tuesday evening. "In D.C., let's say a level four, maybe a level 5 finish commercial is about $600 a square foot. Let's say on the outside it's $800 a square foot because it's literally being constructed by Craftsman. That other 120 million that'll end up in his pocket. Signed a builder."
She later noted that the price was increased to $250 million. On Wednesday afternoon from the Oval Office, Trump raised the cost estimate to $300 million.
"It is not permitted. They did not get planning permission," Boardman continued. "There are no records that any EPA permits were done. Any testing, soil testing, building testing. This is absolutely a money laundering grift. And it won't cost $250 million. It will be three times that and there's no way that it's going to be done in 3 years."