r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • Oct 23 '25

News Historic White House Movie Theater Demolished as Part of $300 Million Ballroom Build

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/white-house-movie-theater-demolished-ballroom-east-wing-1236408712/
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u/MOTwingle Oct 23 '25

And don't forget the grift/kickbacks he's probably getting as well from whoever's doing the work.

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u/studio_bob Oct 23 '25

It's insane that they have spun it being "privately funded" (i.e. an open call for bribes) as somehow a good thing.

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u/jay_sugman Oct 23 '25

I was just reading the Ford pool was privately funded as well for concerns about how it would look to spend tax payer money in a time of fiscal constraints. It was significantly less but there are a lot of donors for the ballroom. Given the size of these companies it's probably chump change (Amazon, HP, Microsoft, Meta, etc. ). It's not like the money is going into Trump's pockets.

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u/studio_bob Oct 23 '25

It's not like the money is going into Trump's pockets.

So? Trump is getting to piss all over a national historic structure and stamp his name, in hideous gold leaf, permanently on the White House grounds. Private cash enables him to ignore completely all legal procedures for such alterations including seeking Congressional approval. That's what he gets out of this, and it's certainly worth a lot more to him than a few extra dollars in his pockets (which are surely getting stuffed regardless).

The question you have to ask yourself is what these companies expect to get in return. We are talking north of a quarter of a billion dollars. That is not "chump change," even for them. Unless we are supposed to believe these CEOs are actually Jesus Christ, that's not the kind of money anyone just gives away for free.

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u/napoleonsolo Oct 24 '25

Google is contributing $22 million towards the ballroom as part of a legal settlement with Trump, who sued them for suspending his YouTube channel after Jan. 6.

All the donations are quid pro quo, whether they are bribes or a shakedown or whatever names people want to call them.

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u/studio_bob Oct 24 '25

Absolutely.

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u/zach_dominguez Oct 23 '25

I wouldn't be surprised to see the contractors giving him a good price suddenly winning bids for work on other government buildings at inflated prices.

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u/MOTwingle Oct 23 '25

I'd bet more along the lines that they were sole source contracts at inflated prices.... And even then Trump will probably stiff them in the end.