President Trump showed off the construction on his ballroom project, providing a deeper look at the things that matter to him.
At a time when his poll numbers are sagging, the economy is sputtering and the war he launched in Iran simply will not end, President Trump spent Tuesday morning showing off his skills in the profession he feels most comfortable with: real estate.
Mr. Trump summoned reporters to the White House to give them a peek at the giant hole where the East Wing once stood, before he had that part of the complex torn down to make way for a $400 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom.
“We have a little breakfast for you,” Mr. Trump said as White House staff members laid out bacon-and-egg breakfast sandwiches and Cokes.
While the president held court, construction workers busied themselves behind him, hammering and banging and beginning to erect columns to support the weight of the ballroom. Mr. Trump attacked his critics, called Democrats “Dumocrats,” and discussed the latest in the Iran war.
But the president also made clear that discussing the ballroom was when he felt most at ease, and that the real estate development business, which Mr. Trump entered following the footsteps of his father, was where he felt most talented.
“I’m a really good builder,” he said. “The thing I do best in life is build.”
It was a glimpse of the mind-set of a president who has increasingly come under criticism for being out of touch with the things that Americans are most concerned about: the economy, for one, and seeing an end to a deeply unpopular and expensive war.