Eric Swalwell Calls On 2028 Democratic Nominees To Pledge To Destroy Trump's 'Monument To Corruption' Ballroom

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: MEDIAite

Oct 26th, 2025, 6:11 pm


Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) proposed a stiff litmus test for any Democrat who hopes to be elected president in 2028: pledge to destroy Donald Trump’s $300 million ballroom.

Swalwell posted to X on Sunday, “Don’t even think of seeking the Democratic nomination for president unless you pledge to take a wrecking ball to the Trump Ballroom on DAY ONE.”

In a follow-up tweet, he added, “Or, as @RubenGallego proposes, rename it the Barack Obama Ballroom. But a Trump monument to corruption will not stand.”

Trump demolished the East Wing of the White House over the period of a week to make way for the proposed 90,000 square-foot ballroom designed to accommodate some 1,000 seated guests. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the ballroom “a much-needed and exquisite addition.”“The White House is currently unable to host major functions honoring world leaders in other countries without having to install a large and unsightly tent approximately 100 yards away from the main building’s entrance,” Leavitt said.

Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/eric-swalwell-calls-on-2028-democratic-nominees-to-pledge-to-destroy-trumps-monument-to-corruption-ballroom/

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Link to tweet

[Chasstev365]

1. Assuming Trump is dead by 2029, make the Trump kids pay for the restoration to the way it was.

[CincyDem]

3. IMHO, if the damn thing is built...sweep it for bugs and if it can be cleaned...

…send in half a dozen top architects to create proposals for how best to repurpose and redecorate it.

Agree that’s it’s ideologically satisfying to burn it down but heck, once it’s done it’s done. Let it be our “never again” hall.

[calimary]

10. Nope. It HAS TO be destroyed.

Trump needs SOMEBODY, SOMEWHERE, SOMEHOW, to say “NO!!!” to him. And make it stick.

That hideous BOWELroom must NOT be allowed to stand. EVER.

[sop]

19. It must be completely razed to the ground, and the East Wing rebuilt as it was before Trump wrecked it.

As proposed, this eyesore will dwarf the original White House, ruining the look and feel of the "People's House' forever. It cannot be renamed or repurposed, it has to disappear.

[ReRe]

22. Rick Wilson of the Lincoln Project called it a

whorehouse and asked for it to be torn down post haste as soon as the Democratic Party gets its hands on the Administration again. I'm with him and you. It will happen.

[bluestarone]

49. Destroyed Fumigated, fumigated, fumigated, then

Fumigate one more time!!

[Scrivener7]

14. I want to see the wrecking ball and some controlled explosives.

[electric_blue68]

58. No. If for no other reason It Dwarfs the White House. Plus, I want gone bc it's His grifty, overblown, ugly building!

[FakeNoose]

60. I think you're right, they probably said the same thing about the Washington Monument at one time

The next Democratic President will need to find a positive way to repurpose it for ALL Americans, not just Repukes, and not just billionaires. If we can do that, and rename it in a constructive and inclusive way, then I'm happy to keep it there.

Our motto should be "Let's not throw good money after bad." We'll have way more urgent things to do, once Chump is finally gone.

[Hekate]

2. It has to be torn down. Period. Don't name it for a decent man.

[Silver Gaia]

8. Agree.

[llmart]

13. I doubt President Obama would want his name on it.

He wouldn't want anyone in the future to think he had anything to do with it, and I wouldn't blame him.

[CTyankee]

24. Did anyone ASK Obama about this? I revere him so much...

My guess is that he thinks trump's ballroom is so repulsive he wouldn't want that. The whole idea of naming part of the White House after yourself is appalling. It is the people's house. Any occupants are temporary and that is as it should be.

[forgotmylogin]

42. Make it a White House museum

A place where people can visit with displays about the advancements of civil, women's, and immigrant rights.

[Hekate]

43. It already exists & is called the Smithsonian. Available to the public, heavily trafficked, away from the WH...

This “ballroom” is going to be shoddily built, I guarantee it. Full of Russian bugs, too.

[Captain Zero]

32. Hand out the gold scraps to the poor.

nt

[kerouac2]

4. Make it a museum with all trump atrocities

People can tour and read all about what trump and his fellow traitors did. Call it hall of treason or something like that.

Seems like a waste to wreck it.

[NJCher]

5. It throws the entire landscape

Out of proportion.

No matter what it would be named, it’s a permanent scar.

[markodochartaigh]

51. "...a permanent scar..."

As is Trump's presidency on the body politic of the US.


But using it as a testament to the horrors of the Trump regime is not in keeping with US norms and traditions. It will likely be torn down, and forgotten.
The sooner that it is torn down, the sooner that we can forget Trump and his anti-democtatic regime.

And the sooner that we will repeat our mistake.

[ChazInAz]

54. It's a waste to build it!

The Executive Mansion is just that, a Mansion, not a despot's palace. The design reflects the spirit of the Enlightenment: ordered, proportionate and restrained.

[Cheezoholic]

6. 90k sq ft is plenty of room to build prison cells for all of these fucks n/t

[OldBaldy1701E]

7. It isn't just a 'ballroom'.

Why would that preening child deny everyone the ability to watch him ruin things just to create his own ugly blight on the White House lawn?

Because they are going to be building more than a ballroom.

[Javaman]

9. if they don't, we the people will nt

[ColoringFool]

11. IF Built---Still a Big "IF"---It Won't Be Razed

By any future President, especially if the edifice is literal cover for a survival bunker. Another spectacle of massive destruction is simply not going to be done for any reason.

Moreover, besides Swalwell, there are hardly any sounds or moves to nip it, nip it in the bud.

No, the best we can hope for is to make any Trump addition a Museum of American Minority History, or something else positive and educational.

[EX500rider]

23. Yeah if built & completed I doubt most voters would want it torn down again & at taxpayer expense

[mwb970]

26. I would, along with everyone I know.

[EX500rider]

39. Unfortunately unless your sample size is around 300 million that's not very indicative

[mwb970]

55. Sorry to have bothered you.

[EX500rider]

59. Why would I be bothered? It's a discussion board, people post their opinions

[Captain Zero]

33. One time tax surcharge on corporations

To. Tear it down.

[Martin Eden]

12. I want it demolished, BUT... will this pledge help Democrats win in 2028?

I suspect most swing voters will have other much higher priorities.

We must not lose sight of the overriding goal to defeat Republicans up and down the ballot.

[Scrivener7]

15. We can do both.

[Martin Eden]

17. My concern is how such a pledge can be used against us

Rethugs and their accomplices in the MSM will hammer a narrative that Democrats are only interested in destroying Trump’s legacy, while offering nothing to actually help the American people.

That would be a pack of LIES, but it could also be effective.

Because millions of voters are stupid, easily taken in by BS narratives. Otherwise, Trump never would have garnered enough votes to become president.

[Scrivener7]

20. We COULD work on our own narrative, and present that monstrosity for what it is: a monument to a sick and damaged idiot

intent on ruining our Democracy.

I'm not seeing that right now, though.

[Martin Eden]

29. By all means Democrats need to hammer an effective narrative

Which includes Trump's desecration of the White House and our Constitutional rule of law.

Plus, of course, how Democratic policies help the vast majority of Americans.

[sunnybrook]

18. My thoughts exactly

Winning is the only goal I have

[Torchlight]

28. I see no reason this would compel anyone to lose sight

and I certainly don't perceive the pledge hurting Democrats in any way, or ignore the goal to defeat the GOP.

[Martin Eden]

30. The pledge wouldn't "compel" Democrats to lose sight of our highest priority

But making it a prominent litmus test for our presidential candidates COULD provide our enemies with the basis for an effective narrative, as I explained in post #17.

[Torchlight]

36. It's not a prominent litmus test, it's a twitter post

Dems don't create policy via twitter, and enemies will create their effective narratives despite what does or does not happen.

[Martin Eden]

37. OK, it's a "stiff" litmus test (not "prominent") that Swalwell explicitly called for in that post.

OBVIOUSLY, we're not talking about a pledge which has already been taken by Democrats who have declared their candidacy for president in the 2028 election. How many have actually declared at this point?

WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT is Swalwell's proposal that there SHOULD BE a stiff litmus test that every Democratic presidential candidate must pledge to demolish Trump’s monstrous ballroom.

We're discussing whether or not such a pledge is a good idea, in terms of the effect it may have on the general election. My argument is it would be prominent in Republican narratives that Democrats only want to destroy Trump’s legacy, rather than actually help the American people.

As I stated in post #17 that would be a pack of LIES, but it could be effective, given that voters have fallen for so much Repuke BS in the past (with help from corporate media).

Electoral politics aside, I would very much like to see Trump’s abominable monument to himself demolished (if built).

[ck4829]

45. Swing voters fell for the "they're eating the cats and dogs" lie. Those are their priorities

[nwliberalkiwi]

16. Use for the Trump Administration trials.

Use the building for the Trump Administration public trials. Nuremberg type trials, due process, long prison terms!!!

[Paladin]

21. Swalwell speaks for me on this.

Bring the new White House construction projects down, just as soon as possible. Whatever the destruction costs, it will be worth it, rather than allowing a trump monument to stand for centuries to come. What remains of our country deserves better.

[mwb970]

25. I want the whole thing torn down as soon as possible.

And put the Rose Garden back and rebuild our White House while you're at it.

The gilded ballroom is simply obscene.

[bleedingulcers]

27. We can't call it the Obama Ballroom...

because it's already been named the Epstein Ballroom.

Say it loud, say it often! He wants us to be distracted from the Epstein Files by this tacky, gaudy waste...

[ReRe]

31. Eric Swalwell can't take possession of this idea

because all of us have been wondering what to do about it. Myself, I think it should be demolished and the East Wing of the White House reconstructed as it was. He didn't have the right or permissions to do what he did. He didn't have a right to do anything he did to tear down our Democracy since Jan 20, 2025; I don't care what his Supreme Court said!

The only way I would go along with the survival of the structure is IF it would become a Monument to honor Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in this society forevermore! Period. Full stop.

[yorkster]

35. Agree, especially with your last paragraph.

[yorkster]

34. Start with a "tear down" of the people

who put it up, by legal means of course,
Trump and the enablers.

[Bluetus]

38. Yes, 10000X yes

Dems must learn to speak in terms of concrete actions, rather than trying to equivocate for safety. This is a very concrete (literally) idea. There is no squishiness to this at all. Democrats will literally take a wrecking ball to Trump's BRIBERY HALL. Every Dem should get behind this.

Swallwell is exactly right. The campaign should start TODAY and Swallwall is 100% right that all Dems should be describing this as a triumph of corruption. It is the room where billionaires come to lay their bribes on the table.

Many will react to this by saying, "Why would we tear down a perfectly good building after it is just built?" We WELCOME that objection. Because the answer is, "This is a symbol of the worst corruption imaginable. It must go."

We WANT Trump to react and boast about his magnificent ballroom. The more he boasts, the more the public will understand it is all about the pipeline of bribes.

This should be central not just to 2028, but to next year's mid-terms. If we win the House in 2026, we probably can't stop the building, but we can launch big inquiries into the bribery system that Trump has set up, and that will keep the story relevant until we can get a Democrat into the WH in 2029.

[Hotler]

40. How about pledging to hold these fascist accountable. nt

[JI7]

41. Will it actually get built ?

[rogue emissary]

44. Make it a homeless shelter.

[lark]

46. It would cost too much to destroy it.

Do something he'd hate ever more - turn it into a Planned Parenthood clinic and if that doesn't need all the space - include a peace garden memoralizing women and minorities with free water and shade and seating for reflection and rest.

[Owens]

47. Just close it up and cite shoddy construction

and how it's dangerous to have people in there.

[Jbraybarten]

48. I want it leveled. I don't want to the next pres to ask permission. Swalwell, is right. This is rotten to its core.

[ultralite001]

50. Dems could turn the demolition into a fundraiser...

Their own pay-to-play...

Let's donate to swing that wrecking ball... Make a donation... Get a ticket...
Have a drawing + voila'... Empower the Dems wrecking crew...

Everyone / anyone can donate for an opportunity to bring Krasnov's house down...
What a day that will be...

[lapfog_1]

52. I pledge to donate at least $2500 to demolish the ballroom

and rebuild the east wing, restore the Presidential Rose Garden and restore the grounds near the East Wing.

They can add a few more floors underground if they like with the new East Wing... and spend at least $200M on the project.

Also remove those ridiculous flag poles.

If they really want to fix things... remove the press briefing room ( all the lies being spewed there require a cleansing ), put the press briefing room under the east wing... and restore the old swimming pool.

But that is optional.

[pecosbob]

53. Symbolic, but I'd rather see a pledge to dismantle the compromised and corrupt Supreme Court.

[JoseBalow]

56. Ask for a show of hands at the primary debate

[Dem4life1970]

57. Before the Presidential Limo is started at the Capitol to take the new Pres. Elect back to the

White House. The bulldozers had better be in motion and maybe half way done. 100% Destroy it! Or temporarily allow a B-2 into DC's restricted air space to drop a GBU-39 on it.