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According to press secretary Karoline Leavitt, President Donald Trump’s top priority is to build a Soviet-style ballroom to replace the East Wing of the White House. This structure will dwarf the remaining White House buildings and proclaim to the world that Trump can do whatever the hell he wants. 

First, he lied when he claimed he loved the original building and it wouldn’t be touched. Then we woke up this week to the news that he was having the entire East Wing demolished. Apparently, there was a photographic record taken of the East Wing before the demolition, but there is no evidence of any efforts to preserve any of the architectural elements of the building. We can only assume they removed all of the furnishings and art. 

I am betting that Trump’s main motivation is to create a venue on the scale of a Costco or Sam’s Club for personal and political fundraising. What better way to reward contributors than to invite them to attend lavish state dinners in the gargantuan gold-plated ballroom, all at the taxpayers’ expense? 

The Trump family has added billions to their net worth since the 2024 election. They are using every lever of government and the media to funnel money into their accounts. We’re talking about a Guinness Book of World Records level of corruption that has included crypto scams, Trump-branded products, elite club memberships, building projects across the globe, a $400 million Qatari jet, a $1 billion upgrade to that jet, and more. 

Now Trump is trying to steal $230 million from the US Treasury to compensate him for having to defend himself from the crimes he was charged with. Justice moved with such deliberate lack of speed, not to mention being kneecapped by “loyal” Trump appointees to the bench at various levels, that Trump was able to avoid going to trial on charges related to January 6 and stealing classified documents. Justice delayed was justice denied. 

While you’re here enjoying DonkeyHotey’s latest cartoon, please take a moment to read these articles on related topics: 

• Donald Trump: King or Tyrant-in-Waiting?
• When the Bubble Bursts: The Economy Can’t Be Spun
• Other DonkeyHotey cartoons

The cartoon above was created by DonkeyHotey for WhoWhatWhy from these images: Donald Trump caricature (DonkeyHotey / Flickr – CC BY-SA 2.0), body (The White House / Wikimedia – PD), ballroom (The White House – PD), and background (The White House / Flickr – PD).