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William Seger

(12,119 posts)
Thu Sep 25, 2025, 08:28 PM Sep 25

What should the next Democratic president do with the White House ballroom?

The White House ballroom construction is scheduled to be finished by the next administration. I saw recommendations that the next Democratic president should tear it down, which is a valid suggestion, but what else might be done with it? I'm not opposed to leaving it, if it's well done — I'm just opposed to leaving it as a place for presidents to host gigantic private parties.

My own suggestion would be to make it the National Presidential History Museum, part of the Smithsonian system, available to the White House tour groups.

60 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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What should the next Democratic president do with the White House ballroom? (Original Post) William Seger Sep 25 OP
Blow it up. Solly Mack Sep 25 #1
Open a soup kitchen to feed all us folks who had SNAP taken away by Republicans, Jack Valentino Sep 25 #2
I like this idea!! wordstroken Sep 25 #5
We have a winner! (n/t) OldBaldy1701E Sep 26 #42
Fill it with jail cells JBTaurus83 Sep 25 #3
Demolish it and sell off the rest and give the proceeds to homeless and domestic abuse shelters Deuxcents Sep 25 #4
Great idea! RazorbackExpat Sep 26 #41
Use it to troll Trump newdeal2 Sep 25 #6
If it's an accurate history, it will show him in a very bad light William Seger Sep 25 #12
Windmills. Maru Kitteh Sep 25 #17
Tear it down. BannonsLiver Sep 25 #7
I was going to suggest... Hugin Sep 25 #22
Perminant HQ for Independant investigators quakerboy Sep 25 #8
Turn it into an immigrant museum. LuvLoogie Sep 25 #9
24/7 citizenship ceremonies, quinceaeras and gay weddings meadowlander Sep 26 #25
Pickleball courts. bluedigger Sep 25 #10
Whatever it is, it should involve lots of C-4, crowbars and pneumatic construction equipment . . .. hatrack Sep 25 #11
Nothing done by that miscreant Mussolini choie Sep 25 #13
tear it down and the patio as well. Give the rose garden back to Jackie like Biden should have done. Takket Sep 25 #14
And, send the bills to the RNC, Eloon, Thiel, Bezos, Murdoch... GoCubsGo Sep 26 #36
Start demolition on Day One Stinky The Clown Sep 25 #15
The entire WH and property should be restored to how Obama left it JoseBalow Sep 25 #16
Tear it down? The King's Throne and room...? NM Grins Sep 25 #18
Donate any gold trim in it to charity. Name it the Obama ballroom, or something similar. RoeVWade Sep 25 #19
National Presidential CORRUPTION History Museum would be more appropriate. nt eppur_se_muova Sep 25 #20
Soup kitchen lame54 Sep 25 #21
Tear it down and make trump pay for the damages Blue Full Moon Sep 26 #23
That one gets my vote DFW Sep 26 #24
Tear it down and make him pay, but I'd like all the Cloudhopper Sep 26 #32
Give out raffle tickets, prizes are pieces of the ballroom. BootinUp Sep 26 #26
Turn it into a museum honoring all people of color synni Sep 26 #27
Make it a homeless shelter for LGBTQ+ Latinx atheists... regnaD kciN Sep 26 #28
If it truly ends up being larger than the White House, it should be cut down in size to be harmonious with the rest. flor-de-jasmim Sep 26 #29
Like the statue of Saddam Hussein in Iraq it must be toppled. taxi Sep 26 #30
Put me in the tear it down column. Just like Trump's casinos. Emile Sep 26 #31
Return it to its former glory. dem4decades Sep 26 #33
It should be demolished and the rest of the White House restored. RandiFan1290 Sep 26 #34
trump atrocity library Randypiper Sep 26 #35
Hold the Hague trials there. usedtobedemgurl Sep 26 #37
Museum to display the Epstein files! Emile Sep 26 #38
Let DC building inspectors in to condemn it and then tear it down. Restoring the Rose Garden at the ... marble falls Sep 26 #39
Erase it. Swede Sep 26 #40
I can definitely appreciate that sentiment William Seger Sep 26 #43
white house museum bigtree Sep 26 #44
Good idea; it might not be big enough for a good Presidential History museum William Seger Sep 26 #45
This message was self-deleted by its author republianmushroom Sep 26 #46
A space to honor and welcome *all* who've been disenfranchised and/or brutalized by The Cult: Heidi Sep 26 #47
Turn it into a roller skating rink. Emile Sep 26 #48
Turn it into a homeless shelter. Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Sep 26 #49
Establish a commission to decide, with "demolish" prominent as "Option #1" JHB Sep 26 #50
Temporarily house the homeless sunflowerseed Sep 26 #51
Restore honor and dignity to the White House by tearing both it and the Predator Patio down BeyondGeography Sep 26 #52
It will not come to fruition. Hope22 Sep 26 #53
Site work has already started -- it doesn't need a permit William Seger Sep 26 #58
Or a homeless shelter. 1WorldHope Sep 26 #54
Doze the entire compound, White House & all. CrispyQ Sep 26 #55
I like your idea snowybirdie Sep 26 #56
Absolutely, cleaning up the Oval Throne Room should be on the Undo List William Seger Sep 26 #57
Burn it to the ground. murielm99 Sep 26 #59
Nuke it from orbit... MustBeTheBooz Sep 26 #60

Jack Valentino

(4,162 posts)
2. Open a soup kitchen to feed all us folks who had SNAP taken away by Republicans,
Thu Sep 25, 2025, 08:33 PM
Sep 25

while they gave welfare to billionaires!


JBTaurus83

(807 posts)
3. Fill it with jail cells
Thu Sep 25, 2025, 08:36 PM
Sep 25

Call it White House Alcatraz and throw shithole and his accomplices in for the rest of their lives.

Deuxcents

(25,149 posts)
4. Demolish it and sell off the rest and give the proceeds to homeless and domestic abuse shelters
Thu Sep 25, 2025, 08:38 PM
Sep 25

RazorbackExpat

(846 posts)
41. Great idea!
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 07:56 AM
Sep 26

Go back to the ideals of the Great Society, and lend a helping hand to the less fortunate!

newdeal2

(4,612 posts)
6. Use it to troll Trump
Thu Sep 25, 2025, 08:43 PM
Sep 25

Fill it with things he hates - the Epstein files, escalators and Tylenol.

quakerboy

(14,682 posts)
8. Perminant HQ for Independant investigators
Thu Sep 25, 2025, 08:45 PM
Sep 25

With authority to investigate ALL past and future presidents and cabinet members, in depth, in perpetuity.

Then Build one for the legislature.

And then a third for the SCOTUS.

If fascism is defeated and democracy returns to the USA, we need strong measures to have accountability.

LuvLoogie

(8,442 posts)
9. Turn it into an immigrant museum.
Thu Sep 25, 2025, 08:48 PM
Sep 25

Free to the public on trump's birthday and the anniversaries of his convictions and his inevitable death.

hatrack

(64,090 posts)
11. Whatever it is, it should involve lots of C-4, crowbars and pneumatic construction equipment . . ..
Thu Sep 25, 2025, 09:13 PM
Sep 25

.

choie

(6,497 posts)
13. Nothing done by that miscreant Mussolini
Thu Sep 25, 2025, 09:29 PM
Sep 25

should be left standing, incluing his butchering of the White House.

Takket

(23,401 posts)
14. tear it down and the patio as well. Give the rose garden back to Jackie like Biden should have done.
Thu Sep 25, 2025, 09:30 PM
Sep 25

GoCubsGo

(34,600 posts)
36. And, send the bills to the RNC, Eloon, Thiel, Bezos, Murdoch...
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 06:51 AM
Sep 26

As well as all of the other corporate whores who have been funding this motherfucker for the past decade. This is their mess. They should pay for the demolition, disposal, and restoration of the entire property. And, put Trump and all of his sycophants on a chain gang, since they love those so much, and make them help clean it all up. They can replant the Rose Garden and all of the trees they killed, too.

JoseBalow

(9,046 posts)
16. The entire WH and property should be restored to how Obama left it
Thu Sep 25, 2025, 09:37 PM
Sep 25

As if drumpf never set foot in it.

DFW

(59,588 posts)
24. That one gets my vote
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 04:18 AM
Sep 26

It’s a reasonable assumption that most people haven’t been in there. As a nation, we need places like that for official diplomatic events. That is not excessive. What is perverse is Trump spending a fortune of OUR money to transform traditional elegance into gaudy nouveau-riche excess of a kind that only would appeal to someone like Trump, and therefore necessarily not to much of anyone else.

flor-de-jasmim

(2,258 posts)
29. If it truly ends up being larger than the White House, it should be cut down in size to be harmonious with the rest.
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 05:00 AM
Sep 26

It will be such an eyesore if left as it.
AND Trump should be prosecuted for destroying the historical trees. This is OUR property, not his.

taxi

(2,664 posts)
30. Like the statue of Saddam Hussein in Iraq it must be toppled.
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 05:00 AM
Sep 26

No trace of the man-baby can remain standing.

RandiFan1290

(6,654 posts)
34. It should be demolished and the rest of the White House restored.
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 05:58 AM
Sep 26

I am willing to bet that it will be allowed to stand.

The Rose Garden was never restored.

usedtobedemgurl

(1,903 posts)
37. Hold the Hague trials there.
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 07:01 AM
Sep 26

There will not be enough room for everyone who wants to attend, but maybe a raffle to attend? The proceeds could go to cover the building cost and any leftover could be donated to schools, Planned Parenthood, and maybe some LGBTQ+ groups.afterwards, have it as a memorial of the place the admin was tried and found guilty. Have it as a warning to others who mess with our democracy.

marble falls

(70,074 posts)
39. Let DC building inspectors in to condemn it and then tear it down. Restoring the Rose Garden at the ...
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 07:32 AM
Sep 26

... same time.

William Seger

(12,119 posts)
43. I can definitely appreciate that sentiment
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 10:36 AM
Sep 26

... but I think a more positive (and less divisive) use would be dedicating it to something the faux-king revisionist absolutely abhors: accurate history. That should include the fact that the building itself was originally intended as a faux-king royal ballroom for massive celebrations of elitism, until President [fill in the blank] made it a public museum dedicated to remembering our best and our worst.

William Seger

(12,119 posts)
45. Good idea; it might not be big enough for a good Presidential History museum
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 11:03 AM
Sep 26

A White House History Museum should definitely include a plaque stating the history of the building itself: A royal ballroom conceived by an authoritarian president, converted to public museum by a Democratic president.

Response to William Seger (Original post)

Heidi

(58,846 posts)
47. A space to honor and welcome *all* who've been disenfranchised and/or brutalized by The Cult:
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 11:14 AM
Sep 26

the slave laborers who built the White House, all POC, immigrants, the unhoused, the mentally ill, LGBTQ+, women, those othered by poverty, dissidents, whistleblowers…

JHB

(37,881 posts)
50. Establish a commission to decide, with "demolish" prominent as "Option #1"
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 01:04 PM
Sep 26

After all, how much of it would have to be disassembled anyway to sweep for bugs embedded in its structure?

Hell, the whole White House may have to be gutted and rebuilt like it was in 1948.

sunflowerseed

(485 posts)
51. Temporarily house the homeless
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 01:10 PM
Sep 26

When we have no homeless lottery for attendance with the president if she chooses to.

BeyondGeography

(40,772 posts)
52. Restore honor and dignity to the White House by tearing both it and the Predator Patio down
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 01:11 PM
Sep 26

and bringing back the Rose Garden to replace the latter.

Hope22

(4,386 posts)
53. It will not come to fruition.
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 01:12 PM
Sep 26

He will collect money and pocket it. Unless the real purpose of the building is to house their new form or government and scrape the Capitol Building off the planet. Keep everything real tidy at the White House. I feel like it could go either way.

William Seger

(12,119 posts)
58. Site work has already started -- it doesn't need a permit
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 01:46 PM
Sep 26

... but the building itself technically does need a D.C. permit — we'll have to see how that plays out, but I don't expect anything will stop it.

CrispyQ

(40,542 posts)
55. Doze the entire compound, White House & all.
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 01:15 PM
Sep 26

Invite architects to submit new designs & have a national contest/election to select which design, & then build the People's House with union labor.

snowybirdie

(6,511 posts)
56. I like your idea
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 01:19 PM
Sep 26

Will hopefully restore some dignity to the beautiful historic building. Get rid of all that crappy faux gold though!

William Seger

(12,119 posts)
57. Absolutely, cleaning up the Oval Throne Room should be on the Undo List
Fri Sep 26, 2025, 01:41 PM
Sep 26

It's nothing but a crass display and celebration of wealth and elitism, just like the Royal Ballroom.

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