Ever since President Donald Trump officially began the White House makeover project, criticisms regarding the same have been consistent. Interestingly, both the supporters and haters of Trump have been vocal about the alleged “ridiculousness” of the project and have also highlighted the insane amount of money it would take to renovate the place, which does not seem like a good idea, given the current economic conditions of America.
The same sentiment was echoed by Alyssa Farah Griffin on Tuesday. The co-host of The View, Griffin was an aide of Trump during his first term but has now turned critical of the way the President’s way of running the country.
As Trump’s crew has started demolishing the White House East Wing, where Trump’s 90,000-square-foot, $250 million ballroom will be built, Griffin clearly expressed her criticism, saying, “The optics, Americans are struggling … The cost of living is not coming down, you have more unemployed Americans than you do jobs available right now.”
She further added, “It feels like Marie Antoinette, let them eat cake, we’re building a ballroom while [you] pay the bill.” Griffin also added that the way the White House renovations are going, the ballroom would probably look “more like a Florida country club” than the administrative place it actually is.
The changed look of The White House has also been another source of concern, as it appears that the place will have a huge number of similarities to Trump’s property, Mar-a-Lago. It should be noted here that while Presidents can technically make such changes to the looks and build of the White House, they do need to run their plan past the National Capital Planning Commission.
BREAKING: SWEET KARMA! The company demolishing the White House to build Donald Trump’s hideous $250 million ballroom gets FLOODED with brutal one-star reviews as the American people turn against them.
They should have just turned down the contract…
“This is America’s house!… pic.twitter.com/giF2TR8OTe
— Occupy Democrats (@OccupyDemocrats) October 21, 2025
As reported by HuffPost, “A White House spokesperson told Axios that it looks to submit the ballroom plans to the NCPC “soon.” The NCPC oversees federal construction in Washington, D.C., but demolition isn’t in the agency’s purview, an NCPC spokesperson told the outlet.”
While voicing her disappointment and criticism about Trump’s renovation of the White House, Griffin also mentioned how Trump loved the “sweeping, huge” state dinners held in the UK. To this, Whoopi Goldberg replied, saying, “But remind everybody where they’re having the sweeping — it’s in the castle, it’s Windsor Castle.”
Griffin’s answer to this was clear and simple, as she said, “So that’s why he wants to build it.
Her observations do explain a lot of Trump’s ambitions regarding the makeover of the White House. However, despite facing criticism from various sides, the President has stood his ground regarding the renovation, and the work is going on accordingly.
Previously, when the White House Rose Garden underwent certain drastic changes, both netizens and people within Trump’s political orbit had been vocal about the rather disappointing results. Back then, Trump had defended the change and given a number of reasons explaining why the renovation was important.
With growing concern over the ongoing changes in the appearance of the White House, it now remains to be seen how Trump further justifies his consistent efforts to make the historical building look more like his own place of residence.
