On Friday’s episode of “Real Time,” host Bill Maher asserted his indifference about President Donald Trump remodeling the East Wing of the White House into a ballroom and slammed the media for their coverage of the project.
“The ballroom, I don’t give a s—. I really don’t give a s—,” Maher said. “I was reading — it shows you how the media is. Everything is always on one side or the other. When [Trump] first mentioned it, it was all about, ‘Oh, my God, he’s desecrating the White House.’
“Then I finally read, ‘Oh, well, they’ve done s— to the White House before.’”
“It’s just a building, I think,” he added.
Rejecting the White House’s current setup, where state dinners have been held in tents, Maher exclaimed, “This is America!”
Aside from criticizing the media’s “one side or the other” coverage of the remodel, Maher suggested that the ballroom may actually be a worthwhile investment, considering state dinners are currently hosted “in a tent.”
“Also, I realized after reading other people, we don’t have a place when they have state dinners,” he said. “They’re doing it in a tent! This is America! So do I give a s— that he’s doing this to the White House? I really don’t.”
Maher also pointed to the fact that the ballroom is being funded by “private money,” and isn’t being subsidized by American tax dollars.
This isn’t the HBO host’s first time commenting on Trump’s ballroom project. Last month he sounded the alarm on the “symbolism” behind the president’s addition to the White House and revealed what “bothers” him about the demolition of the East Wing.
“The symbolism is he’s not leaving,” Maher told his panel. “Who puts in a giant ballroom if you’re leaving?”
Although Maher objected to Trump’s demolition, he sparred with former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele over whether the White House is “just a building.”
“We watched this week the destruction of a symbol of this government,” Steele lamented. “Of our democracy, of our pluralistic society.”
“You’re talking about the White House?” Maher countered. “Oh, it’s a building, Mike.”
Later in the segment, Steele said that Trump had torn the East Wing down “without accountability.” The late-night host said he agreed with Steele on that.
“You know, he should have gotten the permits, but that’s how he does things,” Maher said. “I agree, but it is just a building, first of all.”
“That part of the building wasn’t always there,” he continued. “Presidents do change the buildings. Nixon put in a bowling alley. Obama made the tennis court a basketball court. I can’t get this mad about everything, Mike. I just can’t.”
Trump’s privately funded $200 million White House ballroom is the latest “bold, necessary addition” to the executive residence, officials said, describing the East Wing construction as a continuation of presidential upgrades dating back more than a century.
Throughout its 223-year history, the iconic residence has seen numerous updates — both large and small — under nearly every administration.