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Everyone on the planet knows that Donald Trump has carried out a political, ideological and cultural takeover of the government.
Force elite universities to change their policies or lose hundreds of millions of dollars in grants? Check.
Sue media organizations and collect $16 million or more from companies like CBS and NBC? Check.
HILLARY CLINTON ENCOURAGES VOTERS AGAINST CONSTRUCTION OF TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM: ‘IT’S NOT YOUR HOUSE’
Tell the Justice Department which of its political enemies should be dictated to? Check.
Pressure top law firms to donate millions in pro-bono services under threat of losing access to classified documents? Check.
Take control of the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian and steer them in an unwoke direction? Check.
Using National Guard troops and law enforcement to take over the fight against crime in DC, and now in Chicago and Portland, over the objections of local Democratic officials? Check.
And, during a government shutdown now in its fourth week, openly cutting programs favored by Democrats and laying off thousands of their staff.
These are not secret behind-the-scenes happenings; They are in the news every day.
Demolition work continues on a portion of the East Wing of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Washington, ahead of construction of a new ballroom. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
But the president just took two consecutive actions that are in a completely different category.
Seemingly out of nowhere, he demanded that the federal government pay him $230 million.
This, he said, due to the damage he suffered during the investigations that gave rise to the four accusations against him. And taxpayers would foot the bill.
Oh, and there’s more: The payments would have to be approved by Trump’s Justice Department, which he publicly orders. More specifically, by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former criminal defense attorney. It is a blatant conflict of interest. But even if Blanche abstained, someone in the chain would certainly give her the green light.
This controversy strikes a chord because it is easy to understand. You don’t need a law degree to understand it. To most people, it appears that Trump is enriching himself at the public’s expense.
TRUMP CELEBRATES DEMOLITION OF WHITE HOUSE AS NEW BALLROOM GOES UP: ‘MUSIC TO MY EARS’
One Republican senator, Thom Tillis, has already criticized the “optical loss… We’re talking about a transfer of maybe $250 million to the president when we’re in a shutdown posture.”
The presentations, revealed by the New York Times, were made before he regained the White House.
There have been similar allegations, for example the president’s investment in cryptocurrencies, including a MAGA Memecoin, which is now believed to have generated at least $1 billion for him and his family. But come on, who the hell understands the nuances of Bitcoin?
Trump has been selling products his entire life. He sold steaks, created a branded airline and offered business courses at Trump University, which closed after settling three lawsuits. He has sold Bibles, watches, sneakers, trading cards, mugs, liquor and luxury watches that bear his name.
President Donald Trump speaks at a meeting of senior U.S. military commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Quantico, Virginia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The president, who seemed a little embarrassed (unusual for him), seemed to feel that he had gone too far.
“It’s interesting because I’m the one making the decision, right?” he told reporters. “And that decision would have to come across my desk. And it’s tremendously strange to make a decision where I pay myself.”
But, he added, “I suffered a lot of damage and any money I got I would donate to charity.”
That was his first mention of not keeping the money. But the lasting impression is that Trump, who is not much affected by money, sees his high office as a constant opportunity to profit.
The second movement is based on an image that I find very difficult to observe. And I have heard it from both ordinary people and experts.
It is the demolition of the East Wing of the White House.
The Washington Post was the first to obtain photographs of a backhoe reducing part of the east wing to rubble. Authorities have now confirmed that the entire wing of the “People’s House” will be destroyed.
That was history being assaulted before our eyes. One of the most emblematic buildings in the world, which collapses by his order. A literal attack on the building that was almost completed in 1800, when John and Abigail Adams moved in. (There was that unfortunate incident when the British burned the building during the War of 1812).
The east wing, which houses the first lady’s offices, dates to 1902, and a second floor was added under FDR.
The reason for the demolition is to make room for Trump’s plan to build a $250 million ballroom. He has not submitted plans for the ballroom and it is not subject to architectural review.
TRUMP BEGINS WORK ON A MASSIVE BALLROOM PROJECT IN THE WHITE HOUSE WITH PRIVATE FINANCING FROM ‘PATRIOTS’
The president had promised that this would not happen. “It will not interfere with the current building,” he said when signing the executive order in July. “It will be close but not touching, and it totally respects the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of. It’s my favorite. It’s my favorite place. I love it.”
However, that assurance turned out to be meaningless.
Trump, for all his power, is a temporary resident of the house, but he is undertaking extensive renovations that will last long into the future.
Some of his predecessors have made modest changes. JFK expanded the Rose Garden, once a pasture for cows and sheep, and Trump laid a concrete slab to turn it into a patio.
This photograph provided by the U.S. Library of Congress shows a crowd outside the White House on the wedding day of Jessie Woodrow Wilson, President Wilson’s daughter who married Francis Bowes Sayre, in a ceremony at the White House in Washington, Nov. 25, 1913. (US Library of Congress via AP)
Under Richard Nixon, the press conference room opened, replacing a swimming pool that had been installed for Franklin Roosevelt’s physical therapy.
Trump openly says he wants a “beautiful ballroom like I have at Mar-a-Lago” and the project is being financed by giant corporations.
But we can never get back what we had, the gleaming white mansion so familiar to all Americans. And it is a story that needs no words of explanation, only an image of destruction.
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Donald Trump has many accomplishments in his second term, from devastating Iran’s nuclear facilities to orchestrating an unlikely ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and freeing the hosts.
In short, the president has had many good weeks. This is not one of them.