An expert in historic preservation with ties to Connecticut is weighing in on President Donald Trump’s razing of the White House’s East Wing to make way for a ballroom.
“The demolition of the East Wing of the White House is as important to the residents of Connecticut as it is to people in D.C. Across the country, we share in the history and in the symbolism that the White House embodies,” said Sara Bronin, George Washington University law professor and former chair of both the Preservation Connecticut board and the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
The Trump administration says criticism of the demolition is “manufactured outrage.”
“[U]nhinged leftists and their Fake News allies are clutching their pearls over President Donald J. Trump’s visionary addition of a grand, privately funded ballroom to the White House,” the administration said in a news release.
Bronin said a group of preservationists was preparing a legal challenge. While it might be too late for the East Wing, Bronin said, action by Congress or the courts could be critical to ensure no further damage to the historic residence.
“It's really important … to clearly send a message that articulates the limits of his power and the need to refrain from doing what he just did at the East Wing in future actions,” Bronin said.
She said Trump could be setting a concerning precedent.
“We don't want to see the West Wing come down. We don't want to see the historic core of the White House come down. But under the theory that he's advancing for his unilateral decision-making here, he could tear the whole thing down,” she said. “No one would have a say.”
Bronin said Trump’s demolition of the East Wing was resonating with the American public, citing polling showing a majority of respondents disapproving of the destruction.
“I think Americans are responding to the idea that there is not a single person who can be allowed to unilaterally destroy our shared history,” Bronin said. “[The White House] is part of our collective heritage. It is something that the American public deserves to have a say in how it develops.”
Bronin said the demolition happened without necessary legal review processes.
Connecticut’s U.S. senators, both Democrats, have slammed the destruction.
“It was absolutely illegal,” Sen. Chris Murphy said on MSNBC last week. “That visual is powerful because you're essentially watching the destruction of the rule of law happen as those walls come down. It is just a symbol about how cavalier [Trump] is about every single day acting in new and illegal ways.”
At a Monday press conference in Hartford, Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he was “appalled and aghast” at the demolition of the East Wing. He announced he was pressing for answers from the 37 corporate donors who have contributed to the $300 million project.
“There is the appearance of a potential quid pro quo, or even a shakedown, and Americans deserve to know whether there was any understanding, implicit or explicit, involved in these donations,” Blumenthal said.
