Trump expresses frustration with ‘stupid people’ doing work outside White House

President Donald Trump expressed frustration about what he described as “a huge gash in the limestone that extended more than 25 yards long” outside the White House.

It was deep and nasty!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.

The president said he noticed the gash three days ago as he was “admiring” the stonework, noting that he used “the most beautiful marble and stone available anywhere” to repave The Rose Garden.

After he saw the blemish, he said he began hollering.

I started yelling, ‘Who did this, and I want to find out now!” — And I didn’t say this in a nice manner,” he wrote. “I wondered, ‘Was it vandalism or, was it stupidity?’ Lo and behold, because of the fact that we’ve installed the finest security equipment anywhere, they brought back the stupid people, with their boss watching (in sunglasses!). It was a subcontractor that was installing heavy landscaping on a steel cart that was broken and tilting badly, with it rubbing hard against the soft, beautiful stone.”

Trump said he loves and respects “great workers and contractors, but something like this should never happen.”

He added that he will replace the stone, charge the contractor, and never let that contractor work at the White House again.

But, how great is the video equipment? We caught them, cold. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!,” he wrote.

Trump also said work on the Rose Garden is complete, making it “far more beautiful than anyone ever had in mind when it was conceived of, decades ago.”

The Rose Garden is one of a few improvements Trump is making during his stay at the White House, as he recently added flagpoles to the North and South Lawns.

In July, White House Press Secretary announced the construction of a massive new ballroom at the White House. She said building of the 90,000 square-foot White House State Ballroom will start in September.

For 150 years, presidents, administrations, and White House staff have longed for a large event space on the White House complex that can hold substantially more guests than currently allowed,” Leavitt said during a news briefing.

President Trump has expressed his commitment to solving this problem on behalf of future Administrations and the American people,” she added.

Leavitt also said Trump — and other donors — will provide the money to build the ballroom, which is slated to cost approximately $200 million.

Leavitt said while the White House is “one of the most beautiful and historic buildings in the world,” it doesn’t have a space where it can host major functions to accommodate world leaders and other countries “without having to install a large and unsightly tent approximately 100 yards away from the main building entrance.”

She said the ballroom will change that, as it will have a seated capacity of 650 people, adding that’s “a significant increase from the 200-person seated capacity in the East Room of the White House.”

Leavitt said while the ballroom will be separate from the main building, “it’s theme and architectural heritage will be almost identical.”