Former Homeland Security official Miles Taylor ripped President Donald Trump’s $400-million ballroom on Saturday, calling it a ‘vanity project’ that will actually be an ‘absolute gift’ for Democrats running against Republicans this year.
“Let me say this: If you are running a campaign this year, the silver lining is this is an absolute gift if you’re running against this administration and you’re running against this party,” Taylor said on MS Now. “I mean, Donald Trump has given Democrats like eight-word gold for the elections. He’s basically saying, ‘I make me ballroom, I make you broke’ — that’s what he’s saying to all of America.”
The president tore down the White House East Wing and has used the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to promote his ballroom, which he claims will be “drone proof.”
“It’s actually a larger room and it’s much more secure,” Trump said. “It’s got — it’s drone proof, it’s bulletproof glass. That’s why the Secret Service, the military, are demanding it.”
Republicans have come out in support of the president’s project, now promoted as a national security item, and are pushing for Congressional approval.
Taylor told the panel that Republicans who are pushing for Trump’s ballroom for are “wedding themselves to this, and it’s a total disaster for them electorally.”
“If you and I sat here for an hour or two, I could not have invented a stupider thing for them to do politically,” he continued.
Taylor, who served in DHS for multiple administrations, went on to discredit the GOP’s claim that the new ballroom was necessary for national security.
“It is a vanity project. Absolutely no need whatsoever for this. For national security purposes, the bunker under that ballroom does not require a ballroom on top of it to function,” Taylor said. “There is no excuse here. It’s a vanity project. And again, politically, that’s gold for Democrats.”
The last time Trump was rushed down to the White House bunker was in 2020, during protests stemming from the death of George Floyd. According to Taylor, the president at the time “clearly looked around and said, ‘I don’t like the digs here. I anticipate being down here again. I would like it to be nicer.’”
“That last part is the thing we should really worry about, ” Taylor added. “Why does he anticipate being down there again? Why does he care if it’s renovated, if it was already suitable enough for a president of the United States, what does he need to change about that? That should be a concerning focus for America.”
