Trump Gets Up, Walks Away From Meeting To Stare Out Window At Ballroom

During a Friday meeting with oil executives from Exxon and Chevron at the White House, President Donald Trump abruptly left his seat to stare out a window at the construction of his new ballroom project. Trump stood for approximately 20 seconds admiring the work, telling his guests “Wow, what a view. This is the door to the ballroom,” before returning to his seat next to Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Trump used the interruption to promote the ballroom’s scale, claiming it would accommodate over 1,000 people compared to current White House meeting rooms. He stated the project was “ahead of schedule” and “under budget,” despite the White House significantly raising its cost estimate from $200 million to $400 million in recent months. Trump told the executives, “I don’t think there’ll be anything like it in the world, actually.”

The ballroom required demolition of the East Wing and is being funded by private donations, including contributions from Trump himself and major technology companies such as Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Coinbase, and Meta. Trump emphasized the facility’s security features, noting it would include “bulletproof glass, drone-proof ceilings and everything else” needed for modern operations and inaugurations.

Trump has previously acknowledged the ballroom functions as a personal monument he is “building to himself because no one else will.” His fixation on the project has extended to attacking journalists who question its costs and scope, having verbally assaulted CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and criticized Reuters correspondent Jeff Mason for raising questions about the project’s transparency and extent.

(Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-gets-walks-away-meeting-221107280.html)