Trump plagued by 'embarrassing' problem at his own ballroom dinner - 'fire them'
Trump during his remarks at the event touted early renderings of what the White House ballroom would look like once its completed
President Donald Trump hosted a swanky dinner Wednesday night for the private donors to his $200 million White House ballroom project.
More than three dozen organizations and individuals, including companies with business before the federal government, attended the event held in the East Room of the White House. Companies who sent representatives to attend the event included Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, Meta, Alphabet, Amazon and Palantir, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal.
Trump was plagued by technical issues during the early moments of the events, including audio in many of the live streams, where it seemed his microphone was not connected to the livestreams forcing viewers to only hear his remarks with the sound in the room. This prompted some on social media to suggest the people responsible for the audio should be fired.
"How Embarrassing they didn’t have his mic on. Second time today you guys haven’t connected the mic to the online feed. Trump should fire you," one user wrote on X.
"You would think the audio team would be top notch," another wrote.
Trump during his remarks at the event touted early renderings of what the White House ballroom would look like once its completed. Based on early estimates, the project will not be completed until Trump is the end of his term in office. The president also remarked on his usual talking points during the event, including his tariffs, which he said were making the country "very rich."
He also claimed that he's "stopped eight wars," referring to a previous short conflict between India and Pakistan earlier this year, as well as his recent ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
"I stopped 8 wars in 8 month" - "I saved hundreds of millions of lives. Did I get a Nobel Peace Prize? No," Trump said.
Trump's multimillion-dollar renovation of the building is expected to be larger than the White House itself and will continue as planned even during the ongoing government shutdown, White House officials confirmed.
"There will not be a stoppage of ballroom work when the shutdown occurs," a White House official said.
Trump aides claim the $200 million project is being funded by donors and is, therefore, not subject to the shutdown's freeze on federal funds.
Trump has been anxious to hustle toward work beginning on the ballroom, with an eye toward completing it prior to his leaving office in January 2029. A building mogul before he was a reality TV star and politician, has relished personally overseeing improvement projects at the White House and walked last month on the building’s roof with construction officials.
The ballroom will be the latest change introduced to what’s known as “The People’s House” since Trump returned to office in January, and the first structural change to the Executive Mansion itself since the Truman Balcony was added in 1948.
Trump already has substantially redecorated the Oval Office through the addition of golden flourishes and cherubs, presidential portraits and other items, and installed massive flagpoles on the north and south lawns to fly the American flag. The lawn in the Rose Garden was paved over with stone and patio tables reminiscent of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, complete with exterior speakers.