OUR QUEENS FELON GRIFTER-IN-CHIEF

IN A CONCISE 2 MINUTES 21 SECONDS, KATHLEEN KINGSBURY describes “The Corruption Behind Trump’s East Wing Demolition,” The New York Times, October 25, 2025. “As of Oct. 24,” the preface reads, “the White House’s East Wing is all but a pile of debris. The New York Times Opinion’s editor Kathleen Kingsbury unpacks the public outrage and reveals why you should be concerned about this move by President Trump.”

Kingsbury’s comments reveal our Queens Felon as the Grifter-in-Chief he has become. Here are tidbits gleaned from her presentation. Quoted passages are hers; otherwise, comments are identified by source or the product of my usual Internet sleuthing.

Opinion’s editor Kathleen Kingsbury. Her comments are accessed through the article.

Background. “On Monday, President Trump started knocking down the entire East Wing of the White House in order to build ‘Probably the finest ballroom ever built.’ Here’s how Americans responded. ‘Destroy the entire East Wing. It’s despicable.’ ‘Does the president have the authority to do this? Absolutely not.’ ‘Everything this country stands for, he will absolutely destroy it for the satisfaction of his own [expletive] ego.’ ”

Gilt? Schmilt. Image by Doug Mills/The New York Times.

The New York Times had already described, “See the White House as It Stood and What Trump Envisions,” October 23, 2025: Marco Hernandez, Ashley Wu, and Zach Levitt recounted, “When President Trump first announced his plans for a ballroom at the White House, he promised a light touch on the structure. Now the East Wing has been largely torn down.” 

The top diagram of the White House is based on a 3-D scene from Google Earth. The bottom diagram show a photograph of a physical model taken by Doug Mills/The New York Times

Trump’s Authority?? None. Luke Broadwater and Ashley Ahn recount “Before Renovating White House, Truman Got Buy-In From Congress and Experts,” New York Times, October 23, 2025: “Working with the House and Senate,” they note, “Mr. Truman appointed a bipartisan, six-person commission to oversee the project. He consulted the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Commission of Fine Arts, which approved sketches made by Lorenzo S. Winslow, the White House architect, as well as smaller details like fabric samples and color schemes.”

What’s more, “Funds for the project—more than $5 million at the time—were approved by Congress after significant debate.”

The Times researchers observe, “President Trump, who is carrying out the biggest construction project on the White House grounds since the Truman administration, is bypassing all of that.”

A photograph taken by a passenger on a flight out of Ronald Reagan National Airport on Thursday showed the demolished East Wing. Credit: Katie Harbath.

Donations? Extortions? Kingsbury observes, “What really matters is he’s funding this project entirely through private donors…. But nothing tells that story of grift quite like taking a wrecking ball to the People’s House with private money. It sure looks like wealthy people are buying access to the president under the guise of this construction project.”

This image from Kingsbury’s presentation.

“Just last week,” Kingsbury notes, “Trump hosted a dinner with representatives from companies including Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft and Lockheed Martin. Energy executives and crypto entrepreneurs filled the room and donated huge sums of money to the $200 million project. Another $22 million came from a settlement from a lawsuit Trump brought against YouTube. The White House has not said exactly who paid or how much.”

Nor did it say what influence might come from these “donations.” Indeed, some might call them “extortions.”

The People’s House. Kingsbury concludes, “But Trump is still finding the money he needs to make his mark on the people’s house. The president might not be using your money, but it’s your house and you should know what’s happening to it.”

Image from The New Yorker. 

In a sense, the president is a (rent-free) occupant of our White House. Indeed, he hasn’t even put down a security deposit. ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025