Defiant Joe Biden goes scorched earth on Donald Trump over White House demolition: ‘Who in the hell does he think he is?’
Former president Joe Biden attacked Donald Trump, accusing his successor of defacing the White House with a $300 million vanity project.
The 82-year-old Democrat was speaking as he toured Trump’s new ballroom at the Nebraska Democratic Party’s Ben Nelson Gala on Friday night.
Biden said: ‘Did anyone see what the People’s House did to the East Wing?’ Biden asked, his voice rising above the roar of the audience.
‘This is a perfect symbol of his presidency. Trump is damaging not only the House of the People, but also the Constitution, the rule of law, and our democracy. Who does he think he is?”
The speech marked a cheerful but defiant comeback for Biden, who is being treated for an aggressive form of prostate cancer but showed his old energy and righteous anger.
Although his voice occasionally shook, the crowd was on its feet and cheering throughout the 30-minute speech as he spoke about mending divisions in America and defending democratic norms.
“What we need to do is repair our mistakes, and we started doing that on Tuesday,” he shouted, referring to Democratic victories this week in key races across the country.
It was Biden’s second public appearance in a week and his first purely political event since Labor Day 2024, when he appeared with then-Vice President Kamala Harris at a union rally in Pittsburgh two months before the presidential election in which Trump retook the Oval Office.
In a fiery return to the political scene, Joe Biden attacked Donald Trump on Friday night, accusing his successor of defacing the ‘People’s House’ with a $300 million vanity project and asking: ‘Who does he think he is?’
Biden launches his harshest attack yet against Trump’s controversial demolition of the East Wing of the White House
An excavator stands over the debris after the East Wing of the White House collapsed on October 28 in Washington, D.C.
But Friday’s rally was not about Biden’s own comeback bid, but about rallying his party’s base.
Biden’s remarks come amid growing anger over Trump’s decision to demolish the entire East Wing of the White House; It was a move that shocked historians, conservationists and political opponents.
Trump began demolition last month to make way for a giant 90,000-square-foot ballroom, nearly twice the size of the White House.
The Republican president has long insisted that the 1,000-seat ballroom is needed for large state dinners and events that now require temporary tents on the South Lawn.
But the demolition of the East Wing, which housed the First Lady’s offices, a family theater and Jacqueline Kennedy’s memorial garden, was condemned as a symbol of excess and disrespect for tradition.
The public became aware of the project on October 20, when photos of construction crews tearing apart the building began to circulate on the internet.
Within days, the East Wing was reduced to rubble, including the covered walkway and historic garden.
Trump, a billionaire real estate developer before entering politics, defended the move as part of his vision to ‘modernise’ the Executive Mansion.
But Friday’s rally was not about Biden’s own comeback bid, but about rallying his party’s base
The demolition is part of Donald Trump’s plan to build a ballroom on the east side of the White House
Satellite image of the East Wing of the White House after its demolition
After consulting with architects, he said he decided it would be better to “actually demolish” rather than do a partial renovation.
“It will not interfere with the existing building,” Trump insisted in July. ‘He will be near her, but he will not touch her.’
By October he changed course. “Really tearing it down is the better option,” he said Wednesday.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later confirmed that the cost of the ballroom had increased from $200 million to $300 million, but claimed taxpayers would not pay that price.
