Members of America’s founding generation had an ambivalent and evolving understanding of the role and importance of public or civic “virtue.” In the 1760s and 1770s, many of them were caught up in a kind of republican idea world which made this kind of virtue the cornerstone of any republic. The anchor of republican government wasn’t well-designed constitutions or legal accountability. It was the virtue of the free citizenry. By the late 1780s, many were developing a more pragmatic and jaded view of human nature and focused more on creating systems in which greed, the drive for power and other unlovely parts of human nature could be placed into some kind of enduring counterbalance. That was the basis of what became the federal Constitution and the driver especially for the two young ideologues, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, both men in their thirties, who pressed the project forward.
I was thinking about this this morning when I saw a post by Leah Greenberg, the co-founder of Indivisible. She commented on the “utter moral failure of the elite of this country” when referring to a passage from an article by journalist Ed Luce who recounted talking to numerous leaders throughout the American power structure, all of whom said how critical it was for powerful public figures to set an example by speaking out and defying Donald Trump, and none of whom agreed to speak on the record.
Luce concluded by saying “it has felt like trying to report on politics in Turkey or Hungary.”
This got me thinking about the question of civic virtue.
The photos truly speak for themselves. This week, workers began to demolish the White House’s East Wing to make space for President Trump’s new 90,000-square-foot ballroom that will be paid for by the likes of Amazon and Palantir. Though the administration tried to keep the destruction under wraps, images and video of the historic public building being ripped to shreds by a construction crew went viral. See for yourself below.
The newly-built East Wing in 1902
A fountain outside the newly constructed east wing of the White House. Ca. 1902. (Photo by Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
The East Wing decked out with a “We the People” theme for the 2022 holiday season
Holiday decorations are seen at the entrance of the East Wing during a media preview for the 2022 Holidays at the White House in Washington, DC, November 28, 2022. – We the People is the theme for the 2022 White House Holiday Season. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
The demolished East Wing
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 23: An excavator works to clear rubble after the East Wing of the White House was demolished on October 23, 2025 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Eric Lee/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON DC, UNITED STATES – OCTOBER 22: A general view of the ongoing construction works on the White House grounds in Washington, D.C., United States, on October 22, 2025. The project, announced by US President Donald Trump, includes the construction of a new White House Ballroom and the complete modernization of the East Wing. (Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 23: The facade of the East Wing of the White House is demolished by work crews on October 23, 2025 in Washington, DC. ( (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 21: Photographers and pedestrians stop to watch the facade of the East Wing of the White House being demolished by work crews on October 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 23: An excavator works to clear rubble after the East Wing of the White House was demolished on October 23, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Eric Lee/Getty Images)
People watch along a fence line as the demolition of the East Wing of the White House continues as construction begins on President Donald Trump’s planned ballroom, in Washington, DC, on October 23, 2025. Trump told reporters at an Oval Office event that he had decided after consulting architects that “really knocking it down” was preferable to a partial demolition. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump shows a rendition of the East Wing of the White House currently being demolished to build a ballroom as he meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 22, 2025. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON DC, UNITED STATES – OCTOBER 22: A general view of the ongoing construction works on the White House grounds in Washington, D.C., United States, on October 22, 2025. (Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)
This story was originally reported by Errin Haines and Amanda Becker of The 19th. Meet Errin and Amanda and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy.
When bulldozers began to tear down the East Wing of the White House this week to clear the way for President Donald Trump’s $250 million ballroom, historians raised alarms that important American history was being buried in the rubble, including chapters about previous first ladies and their roles uplifting women going back nearly a century.
The Trump White House has rolled out a new version of a page on its official website about the history of the building to tout the president’s controversial ballroom project — while gratuitously trolling the last three Democratic presidents.
Based on internet archives, the longstanding webpage appears to have been updated yesterday, amid growing criticism of the demolition of the building’s East Wing. The updated version of the page calls it the “East Wing Expansion.”
The webpage includes a “Major Events Timeline” that purports to be a history of the White House itself. It begins normally enough with the building’s design and construction, its reconstruction after the War of 1812, and other historical highlights until … those come to a screeching halt in 1998:
From out of nowhere, the Monica Lewinsky scandal is slotted in as a key moment in the history of the White House. “The Oval Office trysts fueled impeachment for obstruction,” the caption reads, stretching to find the tie-in to the history of the building.
From there, it only gets worse. Much worse:
After the potshots at Presidents Clinton, Obama, and Biden, Hunter Biden, and trans Americans, the timeline has four entries for 2025 alone, all various gaudy additions by Trump. No mention of the East Wing demolition, which the timeline dubs as “renovations.”
As so often is the case with right-wing trolling, it’s highly self-conscious, intended to get a rise from foes and knowing chuckles from allies. It isn’t some peel-back-the-curtain glimpse into the inner workings of the MAGA mind. It’s just an expression of its core asshole-ism.
Covering the trolling as news sometimes feels like a school newspaper reporting on the latest graffiti in the bathroom. And yet …
The White House website — like the East Wing (RIP) — is a public good. The staffers doing the trolling are public employees. The history of the White House as a building is a shared national story that parallels our greatest achievements, conflicts, and tragedies. Its history is our collective experience, which isn’t as tangible of a public good as the bricks and mortar, but can be vandalized just the same.
The Destruction: East Wing Edition
In related developments:
Trump has dramatically upped the cost of the ballroom in recent days from $200 million to $300 million to $350 million.
In the midst of the government shutdown, the White House press secretary declared: “At this moment in time, of course, the ballroom is really the president’s main priority.”
An August profile of President Trump’s architect for the ballroom project, James C. McCrery II, suggests we had more warning this was coming than I realized. The piece, in an architecture newsletter, called it a “controversial plan to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom to replace the White House’s East Wing” that “threatens to permanently disfigure the White House and its grounds.”
The Retribution: Letitia James Edition
Ahead of the arraignment of Letitia James today in her politicized mortgage fraud prosecution:
ABC News: Evidence appears to undercut claims against Letitia James, prosecutors found
NYT: “[I]t is becoming clear that creating the trappings of criminality — the headlines, the scrutiny, the reputational damage — is as much a part of the formula as any realistic chance of conviction.”
James’ lawyers notified the court that they will be challenging the lawfulness of Lindsey Halligan’s appointment as U.S. attorney and suggested her challenge should be combined with the similar challenge by former FBI Director James Comey in his own politicized criminal case.
James also brought Halligan’s Signal chat with Lawfare reporter Anna Bower to the court’s attention, asking for it to order Halligan to preserve the messages and stop making “any further disclosures” outside of court.
The Retribution: Adam Schiff Edition
Federal prosecutors in Maryland are hesitant to bring charges against Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) for drummed-up mortgage fraud because they have insufficient evidence. The case has stalled, but, under direction from the deputy attorney general’s office, prosecutors will keep the case open and continue looking for more evidence.
Note that ongoing open-ended investigations are one of the prime ways President Trump can abuse the Justice Department’s powers.
The Retribution: Jack Smith Edition
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith has called the bluff of Hill Republicans, responding to their demand for his testimony behind closed doors with his own demand to make it a public hearing (provided he gets permission from the Trump DOJ to testify and to access his old files so that he can prepare).
The Latest on Venezuela …
NYT: A Mystery in Trinidad as Bodies Wash Ashore After U.S. Strikes
WSJ: “The U.S. flew Air Force B-1 bombers near Venezuela on Thursday … only days after other American warplanes carried out an ‘attack demonstration’ near the South American country.”
Charlie Savage, on why the summary killing of alleged drug smugglers “stands apart” from President Trump’s many other sweeping claims of executive power.
Trump himself:
Trump: "I don't think we're necessarily going to ask for a declaration of war, I think we're just gonna kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. We're going to kill them. They're going to be, like dead."
President Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the convicted former CEO of the crypto exchange Binance, which is a key supporter of the Trump family’s own newly launched crypto venture.
Mass Deportations: Star Wars Edition
In a letter posted on social media, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche threatened to prosecute Democratic officials in California if they arrest federal agents for violating state laws, calling the public chatter about such a move an “apparent criminal conspiracy.”
Attorneys representing journalists and protestors rushed to court Thursday afternoon with allegations that CBP commander Greg Bovino launched a gas canister at a crowd of protestors in Chicago earlier in the day in potential violation of a federal court order.
The ACLU is suing on behalf of a D.C. man who briefly detained in handcuffs after trolling National Guard troops by playing the “The Imperial March” from Star Wars:
Ooo, went looking for video of this… Oh The Horror! 🤣
At the very start of the second Trump administration when multiple explosive news stories were breaking every day, I got a scoop that changed the course of my career. When I received the tip, there was no editor to run it by; no legal team to consult. I had to decide in a moment of sheer terror and exhilaration what my next move should be. Then I hit publish — and scooped all of the country’s biggest news outlets by reporting that the federal government planned on freezing all funding for grants and loans. The move caused such an uproar that the federal government walked it back, and my work as an independent journalist saw unprecedented attention.
One of the most drastic changes in journalism of the last 25 years is accountability to readers. In the era before digital media really took off, journalists would write and publish stories and maybe receive an occasional letter or email in response to their work. Now there is an invisible umbilical cord between writers and readers. When I broke the federal grant story, I did so on Bluesky, and hundreds of people immediately responded, expressing outrage and disbelief that the administration was exerting such a heavy hand so soon into its tenure.
This inextricable connection is no coincidence: With the rise of social platforms like YouTube and Instagram that highlighted individual creators, the need to sell one’s self along with one’s work became essential. Just before graduating journalism school in 2009, my senior seminar professor had us all sign up for Twitter accounts; while that arguably set me up for the circuitous path to where I am now, it also encouraged me to emphasize not just the political but the personal. My thoughts on The Bachelor were stacked on top of reporting about the Affordable Care Act — and people could read and react to every single one.
Former Republican Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels penned an op-ed in The Washington Post on Wednesday evening encouraging Republicans in his home state’s Senate who are currently opposed to mid-cycle redistricting to stand firm and not cave to pressure from the White House.
For two weeks, CBP commander Greg Bovino was gone from the streets of Chicago. Federal officials said at a court hearing earlier in the month that his brief absence from the Trump administration’s escalation in the city was due to a “groin injury” he sustained during a supposed scuffle with protestors.
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was originally published at Balls and Strikes.
Generally, a common-law principle known as sovereign immunity prevents the federal government from being sued, unless the government chooses to waive that privilege. In 1946, Congress laid out a few exceptions to this rule by passing the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows people allegedly injured by the government to sue “in the same manner and to the same extent” as they would be able to sue anyone else. But first, the law requires any would-be plaintiff to file an administrative claim with the relevant agency, outlining their legal case and making a formal request for money damages. The idea here is to give the government plenty of time and space to negotiate a settlement before it has to face a jury in federal court.
