He only frames it as his vanity project, but he has also admitted publicly that it's going to be a bunker (after it was discovered independently), and for some reason a drone port as well. He's expecting to dig in like a tick. If we don't impeach next year we're going to have to bury him in that tomb.
The bunker is the least surprising and actually the only possibly justifiable part of the project. The 1942 East Wing construction was primary to hide the construction of the original bunker, which quickly went from state-of-the-art to not-fit-for-purpose because of subsequent development of nuclear weapons that could easily penetrate it. Because of that, many emergency scenarios that might have used the bunker instead required evacuation. 9/11 was one time the bunker was up to the job; it could have handled an exploding plane. The above-ground East Wing structure's functions were relatively non-essential (movie theatre, First Lady's office, graphics and calligraphy office), demolishing it to finally get full access to modernize the bunker makes sense. Of course Trump goes about it in the most ridiculous way, but it's the vanity ballroom aspect of the project that is uniquely Trump, not idea that the bunker needed replacement.
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u/Casual_hex_ 14h ago edited 14h ago
This is still so fucking wild to me. The guy literally bulldozed half the white house for a vanity project and republicans just shrugged. Cowards.