Donald Trump's controversial plans to remodel the White House are poised to wipe out another bit of history, but this time, the President of the United States has put a 200-year-old feature in his crosshairs.
The POTUS has been slammed for unveiling his $400 million ballroom that many have branded as a 'monstrosity' as it's being bankrolled by a series of elites. This comes at the cost of the East Wing, with images showing the building being torn down, leaving many shocked and dismayed in equal measure.
Not content with ripping out the East Wing just 124 years after it was added, Donald Trump is now said to be looking at taking down the building's iconic columns.
The Washington Post reports that the Trump-appointed head of a federal arts commission wants to swap the columns out with a more ornate Corinthian style. Although this style is seen as more luxurious and adorns the likes of the U.S. Capitol and the Supreme Court, it comes with more controversy.
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Trump had already handpicked the style for his ballroom, and it's important to note there's no confirmation that the changes will actually take place.
Rodney Mims Cook Jr. heads up the Commission of Fine Arts and explained his plans for the columns in an earlier interview: "Corinthian is the highest order [of column], and that’s what our other two branches of government have.
"Why the White House didn’t originally use them, at least on the north front, which is considered the front door, is beyond me.”
A White House spokesperson told the outlet that the president doesn't intend to change the existing Ionic columns at the front of the White House, although Cook's proposal to revamp the North Portico suggests otherwise.
The Post reiterated: "Cook’s proposal to overhaul the front entrance to the White House, known as the North Portico, reflects a common dynamic in Trump’s Washington, where the president’s deputies and allies often anticipate and implement his desires — and frequently upend decades of tradition and norms in the process."
Cook has the support of colleague Richard Cameron, who added: "Historic buildings, as important as the White House is, nevertheless they change through time."
Others are 'horrified' by the idea, with Steven Semes, a professor emeritus of architecture at the University of Notre Dame and an expert in classical architecture, lamenting: "The Corinthian would be inappropriate for the Executive Residence."
Semes warned that it will 'harm' the look of the White House, maintaining that the Ionic columns evoke "the character of dignity, grace and a kind of intimacy or domesticity." This is unlike a Corinthian style that is "used to express the height of formality and monumentality" on buildings like the Capitol.
The columns were the work of White House architect James Hoban, who added them as a final touch to the North Portico in 1830.
In a 2021 biography of Hoban, Stewart McLaurin, the White House Historical Association’s president, wrote, "Few elements have so inspired American architecture."
Shalom Baranes is the lead architect on the White House ballroom, saying that the president handpicked Corinthian columns for the project that is currently ongoing next to the mansion. When asked whether Trump has discussed using them on other projects, Baranes declined to comment.
Cook has publicly proposed changing the columns to Corinthian, saying that not doing so would cause a discrepancy between the new ballroom and the mansion's Ionic columns.
Trump has already been called out by architects, especially after he paved over the Rose Garden to make room for a patio and unveiled sweeping changes to the Lincoln Bathroom and Lafayette Square.
Semes got the last word, concluding: "It’s like surgically adding or removing a couple of inches to one of your legs, thinking that you could still walk. It becomes a very different animal. And it becomes a completely absurd animal.”