Elizabeth Warren Says Trump Is Deaf To Cost Of Living 'Over The Sound Of Bulldozers' Knocking Down White House Wing For New Grand Ballroom

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Monday mocked President Donald Trump over fresh demolition work over at the White House, saying complaints about the rising cost of living won't register "over the sound of bulldozers" tearing into the East Wing for a grand ballroom.

Warren’s Pointed Critique Of Trump’s Ballroom Project

"Oh you’re trying to say the cost of living is skyrocketing? Donald Trump can’t hear you over the sound of bulldozers demolishing a wing of the White House to build a new grand ballroom," Warren wrote on X.

The Associated Press reported on Monday that crews began removing part of the East Wing, traditionally the first lady's offices, to make way for Trump's planned $250 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom, despite the project lacking sign-off from the federal planning commission that oversees such work.

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Trump Touts Ballroom Project As Modernization Effort

According to a separate ABC News report, Trump acknowledged the construction the same day while hosting LSU and LSU-Shreveport's national champion baseball teams in the East Room, telling guests, "You know we're building — right behind us — we're building a ballroom… Right on the other side, you have a lot of construction going on, which you might hear periodically… It just started today." He also posted that ground had been broken and that the East Wing would be "fully modernized."

The president has long touted the ballroom as a marquee addition that would not affect the existing mansion, though officials now say the East Wing will be replaced as part of the expansion. Renderings show a venue seating about 650, which is more than triple the East Room's capacity, funded primarily by private donations.

Inflation Concerns Fuel Warren's Broader Economic Criticism

Warren's critique arrived amid persistently sour consumer sentiment. A Harris poll published by the Guardian last week found 74% of Americans say their monthly household costs rose by at least $100 from a year earlier. Overall inflation has eased from 2022 highs but was still 2.9% annually in August, above the Federal Reserve's 2% goal.

Last week, Warren also challenged Trump's claims that "the price of things are down," pointing to higher costs for items such as coffee, beef, school supplies and electricity, and record car prices, figures she argues belie the White House narrative.

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