Copyright truthout
Last week, the Trump administration modified a page of the White House website detailing the history of the building to include alleged Democratic administration scandals — as criticism is mounting against President Donald Trump’s destruction of the East Wing to make way for a grandiose, $300 million ballroom. The web page includes a “Major Events Timeline,” which details the renovations following the War of 1812 and the construction of the Oval Office in 1909, for example. But last week, the administration added a number of entries to the timeline about supposed misdeeds by the Clinton, Obama and Biden administrations — some of which included flagrant misinformation. After the changes were met with widespread criticism, the site appears to have removed those items. One entry detailed the “Bill Clinton Scandal,” explaining the former president’s extramarital affair with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Another entry mentions the discovery of drugs at the White House during the administration of former President Joe Biden. “During Biden’s administration, a U.S. Secret Service agent discovered a small, zippered plastic bag containing cocaine in the West Wing entrance lobby,” the entry read. “Speculation has pointed to Hunter Biden, an admitted drug user.” Hunter Biden has reportedly been sober since 2019, and there is no evidence to suggest the drugs were his. The page also made Islamophobic claims regarding former President Barack Obama, alleging he had met members of the Muslim Brotherhood at the White House, a group that some Republicans have pushed to designate a foreign terrorist organization. In fact, Obama had met with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, for diplomatic reasons, at the United Nations General Assembly in 2012, not at the White House. Morsi was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and several Republican lawmakers, including allies of Trump, met with him and other members of the organization around the same time Obama did. That entry also included a photograph of Obama wearing a turban, with the White House falsely labeling the image as a “Muslim Brotherhood Visit.” It was actually an image of Obama visiting Kenya in 2006, and had nothing to do with the Muslim Brotherhood. The White House has gone through many renovations over the years, but Trump’s unilateral approach has sparked concern from the public, with some polls demonstrating that a majority of Americans disagree with his demolition of the East Wing. The Trump administration denies that there is anything wrong with the construction project, which has included the complete destruction of the East Wing and historic foliage that was planted in the area, without going through the ordinary process of approval from archivists. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has denounced criticism of the project as “fake outrage.” Meanwhile, the White House has restricted the press from being able to fully document and report on the changes. There is also concern that the project, which is being funded by private donors, may create major conflicts of interest, with those donating to the construction of the multimillion dollar ballroom receiving preferential treatment from the administration. Among the donors are digital behemoths like Google and Meta, weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin, tobacco company Altria Group, and media companies like Comcast. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) noted on social media last week that Trump’s recently enacted budget bill gave tens of billions of dollars in tax breaks to some of these companies. “Now, they’re writing checks to Trump for his $300 million ballroom. Gee, I wonder why?” Sanders wrote. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) is calling for more oversight over the construction project, specifically citing those concerns. “I’ve launched an investigation into the contracting and approval process for the demolition of the White House — and whether the corporate donors funding Trump’s ballroom are seeking favors with the Administration,” Warren wrote on X. “The American public deserves answers.”
