President Donald Trump recently boasted to reporters about his White House ballroom project — and people online were enraged.

Speaking to journalists aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump pulled out oversized renderings of the project while claiming that “a lot of people are talking about how beautiful” the $400 million building will be. The ballroom will have the capacity to host dignitaries and the presidential inauguration, he said, adding that the military was building a “massive complex” beneath it.

At several points, Trump described the ballroom as “beautiful,” insisting that it will be “the finest ballroom of its kind anywhere in the world.” He also shrugged off a recent New York Times article that quoted architects and preservationists criticizing the building’s design. He said the latest rendering doesn’t include some of the features they discussed.

“A lot of people are giving it really good reviews — some are giving it reviews without even seeing the building,” he said before going into detail about design features including bullet-proof windows and “drone-proof roofs.”

Trump said the ballroom will be funded by private donations and that “not one dime of government money” is going into the building. When a reporter tried to ask a question, the president said, “Wait, excuse me, wait,” and continued to talk about the ballroom.

“I thought I’d do this now ... I’m so busy that I don’t have time to do this, fighting wars and other things, but this is very important because this is going to be with us for a long time,” he said. “I think it will be the greatest ballroom anywhere in the world.”

Moments later, a reporter finally managed to steer the conversation to war in Iran.

Trump, who had the East Wing demolished last October to make way for the ballroom, has shown renderings of the building to reporters before. The project has faced a legal challenge and an outcry from the public and preservation advocates. The National Capital Planning Commission, the federal government’s central planning agency for the National Capital Region, is set to take a final vote on the proposed ballroom on Thursday.

Online, critics panned the president’s prattling about the ballroom as “out of touch” amid the current domestic and global crises.

“People are upset that he seems to have much more detailed plans on building the White House ballroom than he does on solving issues of affordability and the War with Iran,” said Shawn J. Donahue, assistant professor of political science at the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences.

“Also, most Americans view the White House as a sacred place of our country. They see that Jackie Kennedy’s Rose Garden has been replaced and a large section of the White House complex has been demolished,” he told HuffPost.

Todd Belt, professor and political management program director at the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University, said that he believes people were enraged at Trump showing off renderings on Sunday because the president “seems detached from those who are fighting and dying overseas.”

“It demonstrates that he has a set of priorities that don’t match those he governs,” he told HuffPost. “Ultimately, I think this will only harden stances on both sides: Democrats will see this as another example of Trump’s mixed-up priorities and Republicans will excuse it because there is an essential command center being built underneath the ballroom.”

Belt said that it’s “obvious that Donald Trump’s preferred job is to talk about beautiful properties rather than other aspects of the presidency.”

“It’s shocking to see how he seems so much more interested in his ballroom than the forces he has put at risk in the Middle East,” he said. “It really reflects poorly on his priorities. The country is at war, and there is a government shutdown, but he prefers to talk about a ballroom.”

“What stands out to me is that with the nation [is] in a war where the President has not explained well to the American people the objectives, he used a flight back from spending a weekend at his golf resort to spend this time talking about his proposed ballroom, not only at length, but also with pictures that had been produced ahead of time,” Donahue said. “His approval rating is at its lowest point than in either term, and the public is questioning his priorities.”

“This is not going to help with that,” he added.

It’s shocking to see how he seems so much more interested in his ballroom than the forces he has put at risk in the Middle East.

Donahue said that considering all of the other changes Trump has made during his second term — such as his “Presidential Walk of Fame,” the gold in the Oval Office and adding his name to the Kennedy Center, to name a few — it “feels like Trump is trying to turn the White House into something that looks like one of his clubs.”

“Some have asked if one of the reasons he is making these changes [is] because he does not plan on leaving the White House,” he said.

“Once the midterm elections are over, the Democratic primary will officially commence for 2028. One has to expect that many of those candidates in 2027 will make part of their platforms to try to restore the White House [to what it] was before Trump, take his name off of things he placed it on, etc.,” he later added.

Donahue emphasized that while Trump may “hope to change the subject,” polling has shown that the American people want the president to focus on other priorities — not the ballroom project.

“The American people are wanting to hear about plans for affordability and this war with Iran — which has raised gas prices already substantially —[and] what is the end game,” he said. “But instead, ballrooms.”

“One has to ask how connected to the reality of the lives of everyday people he [is],” Donahue added.

By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.