Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner Says Trump’s White House Ballroom Will Be Blown Up in ‘Official Ceremony’
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner sparked controversy after declaring that President Donald J. Trump’s new White House ballroom will eventually be demolished, saying he hopes to keep a piece of the structure as a paperweight after “we all blow it up.”
Krasner made the remarks Tuesday while speaking at George Washington’s historic President’s House site in Philadelphia. Looking years into the future, the progressive district attorney predicted that Trump’s ballroom would eventually disappear and that pieces of the demolished structure could be sold as souvenirs.
Krasner clarified that he was talking about destroying the ballroom during an “official ceremony,” rather than threatening an attack on the White House. He suggested taxpayers could recover money by selling pieces of the demolished building as paperweights, adding that he wanted one sitting on his own desk.
The district attorney also launched a broader attack against Trump during his remarks. After describing the president in profane terms, Krasner agreed with an audience member who called Trump “the devil” and accused the president of embodying hate and ignorance.
Krasner’s comments came amid a dispute over changes to exhibits at the President’s House site. The Trump administration ordered changes to displays focusing on people enslaved by George Washington, replacing them with broader presentations about American history as part of the president’s effort to overhaul historical exhibits on federal property.
Philadelphia challenged the changes, but a federal appeals court sided with the Trump administration and determined that the city did not have the authority to dictate the content displayed at the federally controlled historic site. Krasner nevertheless insisted that information about slavery would ultimately remain part of the memorial.
He also targeted another Trump-backed cultural change, declaring that there would eventually be neither a White House ballroom nor a Kennedy Center renamed in Trump’s honor. His remarks underscored the increasingly bitter political fight surrounding Trump’s efforts to reshape prominent federal buildings and institutions.
The White House fired back, defending the ballroom project as a long-overdue modernization of the executive mansion. Administration officials have argued that the new facility will provide future presidents with a larger and more secure location for major diplomatic gatherings and other official events.
The ballroom itself has become the subject of a major legal fight. Critics contend that the administration moved ahead without sufficient congressional authorization, while Trump has argued that the project includes extensive security infrastructure necessary to protect presidents, foreign leaders and White House personnel.
Chief Justice John Roberts recently allowed above-ground construction to continue temporarily while the Supreme Court considers the broader dispute. That decision prevented a lower-court injunction from immediately shutting down work on the project.
The Secret Service also acknowledged Krasner’s comments, saying the agency investigates statements that could potentially be perceived as threats involving its protectees. The agency declined to discuss whether Krasner’s remarks had prompted any specific protective-intelligence action.
Krasner’s clarification that he envisioned an authorized future demolition distinguishes his comments from a direct threat to attack the White House. Even so, the spectacle of a sitting district attorney talking about eventually “blowing up” part of the White House immediately generated political backlash and added another combustible chapter to his long-running feud with Trump and his administration.