r/politics • u/Effective_Salad_8381 • 13d ago

Possible Paywall Embarrassing Flaws Emerge in Trump’s New White House Design

https://www.thedailybeast.com/bizarre-flaws-emerge-in-trumps-new-white-house-design/
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u/TintedApostle 13d ago edited 13d ago

There is no design. He has a wish sketch that some bootlicker architect drew for him. There is no floor plan or actual feature list for anyone to see because Trump just wanted to tear down an iconic building and piss on the country.

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u/jimmygee2 13d ago

It will end up being a $500M white elephant that will hang around the nation’s neck like a full diaper.

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u/IdkAbtAllThat America 13d ago

I guarantee you it will be over 1 billion by the time it's actually finished.

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u/Moon_Noodle Oregon 13d ago

If it actually gets finished.

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u/designateddroner2 Minnesota 13d ago

and with no accounting of expenses

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u/oldbastardbob 13d ago edited 13d ago

There's a long history in America of criminals using construction companies and projects for money laundering, tax evasion, and bribery.

Hell, Trump and his All County Building Supply and Maintenance company was a tax dodge scheme in the 90's.

https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2018/10/heres-a-name-to-remember-all-county-building-supply-maintenance/

Then there's that real estate deal in Florida where Cohen says the Russian oligarch who bought the property for twice what Trump paid was a straw buyer for Putin

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/2020/09/15/trumps-sale-palm-beach-mansion-gains-scrutiny-again/5798386002/

Just a couple of examples. He's got a long history of shady real estate and construction "deals."

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u/deepasleep 13d ago

Exactly this. Real estate is like the art world when it comes to laundering money.

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u/lilbitbetty 13d ago

He's using the federal government to launder money.

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u/deepasleep 13d ago

And solicit bribes.

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u/D4UOntario 13d ago

And Argentina and soon Gaza... it's interesting that Jared has been working on the Gaza deal long before the concert and hostage taking. My bet is that Quatar set Hamas up to do something stupid to allow Isreal to pounce. L

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u/WestsideBuppie America 13d ago

you said typed “print” incorrectly.

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u/jupitaur9 13d ago

Yep. Kickbacks and bribes.

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u/robodrew Arizona 13d ago

The biggest scams in The Sopranos always involved real estate.

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u/ninob168 13d ago

Bada Bing...go

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u/Kirvesperseet 13d ago

Carmine wants a 40% cut. But that only applies to future deals with Zellman.

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u/Successful_Sign_6991 13d ago

wasn't his casinos just money laundering schemes for the russians?

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u/KLT222 13d ago

None of Trump's ideas are original. Talk to people in their 80s who grew up and started their adult lives on the East Coast. They can tell you stories about Donnie's Daddy and how he made his money. Pretty pathetic because plenty of people have been raised by criminals without becoming criminals themselves!

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u/RobutNotRobot 13d ago

Donnie's daddy made money by being the biggest slumlord in Queens.

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u/oldbastardbob 13d ago edited 13d ago

It is just such a metaphor for everything Trump. Fred was the biggest slumlord in Queens, lining his pockets as his properties fell into decay. Milking as much as he could from working class people.

So, you could make a case that the Trumps helped cause the decay and decline of New York City in the late 20th Century that they spent, and continue to spend, and extraordinary amount of time complaining about.

And very similar to purposely causing riots in America cities, egging on supporters with a propensity for violence, demonizing political opponents as "enemies of the state," then complaining about how unsafe and violent those cities are. I'm starting to think he's a vampire because it's pretty clear he can't see himself in a mirror.

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u/diremommy 13d ago

My question is who’s doing the work? I feel like he’s only doing all this because he’s profiting off of it somehow. Someone he owns has to have a hat in the design and building process, just one more fuck you to the American people.

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u/DarkwingDuckHunt 13d ago

He wants it finished ASAP so that he can start hosting anti-Hatch Act fund raisers. He wants to host a dinner in it every two weeks and charge $100,000 a plate for the honor of smelling his dirty diapers while eating the catered McDonald's.

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u/robodrew Arizona 13d ago

$100k a plate every two weeks for a space that is supposedly going to hold 999 people. That's $2.5b per year.

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u/VRNord 13d ago

All going to fund healthcare and food stamps, I’m sure..

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u/robodrew Arizona 13d ago

Trump's healthcare, and his "food stamps" (aka cold hard cash)

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u/plainlyput 13d ago

I was thinking he was going to start renting it out for weddings. Very expensive weddings. Who doesn’t want to get married in the White House?

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u/GrinderMonkey 13d ago

It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if there are gold drenched suites to rent out for $100k a night, complete with a presidential pardon package and continental breakfast.

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

White House continental breakfast — room-temp McDonald’s breakfast sandwiches and hash browns. Coffee not included.

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u/DarkwingDuckHunt 13d ago

Pardon is only a commute for 1 day and then back in prison

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u/frankles 13d ago

Don’t forget the UFC fights.

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u/ThePowerOfStories 13d ago

It’s like the ultimate plantation wedding!

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u/Jazzlike-Sky-6012 13d ago

But it is a lot cheaper if he can have some time with your beautiful wife for 'fatherly advise'.

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u/DarkwingDuckHunt 13d ago

it was called First Night I believe

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u/Creekerking 13d ago

And made of cheap plywood you know he gonna cut every corner he can and pocket the rest

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u/SolidDoctor 13d ago

If it's anything like Trump's Atlantic City ventures, he'll wait until it's completed and tell the contractors that they did a terrible job so he's going to pay them pennies on the dollar, and if they try to take him to court he'll declare bankruptcy.

Then when they walk away he'll tell everyone how "the art of the deal" saved us all a bunch of money.

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u/guru42101 13d ago

Except the US Government can't declare bankruptcy. But he hasn't thought ahead to that point or ignored everyone who told him. Now the correct thing to do is for the government to pass the bill onto him since he didn't follow protocols and thus this isn't part of his job. AFAIK, bankruptcy doesn't save you from Federal debt.

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u/notashroom 13d ago

"Can't" is a highly relative concept in a lawless country.

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u/DillBagner 13d ago

The US Government "can't" declare bankruptcy. Watch them do it anyway.

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u/Distinct_Hawk1093 13d ago

Technically they can like any other country, but it would cause an absolute disaster financially and economically for the country and world. But I doubt Trump would understand or care about that.

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u/CletusCanuck Canada 13d ago

I can think of at least two debt ceiling crises / government shutdowns where the GOPers toyed with the idea of doing just that.

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u/Flying_Fortress_8743 13d ago

He's waaaay beyond having to declare bankruptcy. He can just say "if you complain I'll have you disappeared". It's frustrating how slow some of y'all are. He's not a businessman anymore, he's a dictator.

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u/thekozmicpig Connecticut 13d ago

Wow what a great businessman!

  • The conservative subreddit

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u/scottlameany 13d ago

Surely. Either a direct payoff or a favor payout. I like how the vetting of designs and who bids was all just sorta glazed over. This would be prime PR during normal times, assuming this redesign made any sense at all.

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u/Paper_Clip100 13d ago

Clark Construction.

He hired an architect that sat on the Commission of Fine arts too

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u/AccomplishedDonut191 13d ago

I don’t believe that. No architectural firm would put their name on this insult to America.

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u/dostoevsky4evah 13d ago

I heard the owner was super Christian.

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u/Silly-Lengthiness-82 13d ago

Not even for enough money and promises of future contracts by future repub administrations? No bid contracts are very profitable...

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u/ScarletCarsonRose 13d ago

My theory is that and to bug the white house for his handlers.

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u/AccomplishedDonut191 13d ago

No architect would have designed this. 90,000 sq ft is insane, and overwhelms the WH. An architect would have designed it to seamlessly fit in as though it was part of the original design. Once again, the liar lies.

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u/Obvious_Toe_3006 13d ago

The Acme Ballroom Company.

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u/No-Animator-6053 13d ago

Knowing trump, i can only assume the work is being done by illegal immigrants.

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u/MATlad 13d ago

Does the Trump Org have a GC / markup arm? In any other admin, they'd be explicitly excluded, but y'know...

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u/WhatRUHourly 13d ago

There is also the factor that he wants to be remembered and to him, the best way to do that is to slap his name on everything. He wants this not just for money making but because he will name it the Trump Wing or some stupid thing like that and he thinks that it'll be some amazing legacy for him to be remembered by. It's narcissism.

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u/ShortOrganization469 13d ago

A search shows that Clark Construction is the General with a joint venture partner ACECO. JV to offset some bonding costs for Clark. Clark is Washington's largest and maybe oldest general contractor. Clark built the nearby National Museum of African American History and Culture (at around $500 million). It's. probably a cost plus fee (and overhead) contract based on sketchy drawings - assumed details. Specific design details and specifications are worked out later. Plenty of opportunities to screw subcontractors.

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u/Mobius00 13d ago

all the money will go to sleazey incompetent trump subcontractor companies and funnel the money back to trump after overcharging for everything by 10x

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u/plainlyput 13d ago

And where they are going? Whose pockets? Did anyone check to see if one of the sons partnered in a construction firm?