Donald Trump’s nemesis congressman slipped in a trolling dig in a scathing letter to the president condemning his White House teardown.
Democratic Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin blasted Trump on Thursday for “taking a wrecking ball to your temporary residence without advising its over 300 million owners,” and challenged the legality of the president’s demolition of the 123-year-old East Wing.
In the letter, which was co-signed by 60 House Democrats, Raskin, 62, argued that Trump’s demolition “likely violates the White House Preservation Act,” calling it a “reckless vanity project.”
“You are the temporary occupant and steward of this structure, just like every American President since John Adams has been,” Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, reminded the 79-year-old president.
Raskin saved his sharpest swipe for the envelope, addressing the letter to Trump at “What Remains of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW.” The congressman underscored the jab on X, writing, “Want to make sure this letter arrives at the right place.”
Raskin has a history of clashing with Trump, and served as lead impeachment manager during the president’s second impeachment trial after the Capitol riots in 2021.
No piece of the East Wing remains after Trump, 79, abandoned his earlier promise to leave the building untouched and instead bulldozed it last week to make way for his $300 million ballroom.
Raskin called on the former property developer to “demonstrate how the teardown” complies with federal law.“ The “White House Preservation Act” he cites likely refers to Public Law 87-286, enacted by Congress in 1961, which declared the White House a museum and extended “legal protection to donated period furnishings and all White House objects,” according to the White House Historical Association.
“Any such article, fixture, or object when not in use or on display in the White House shall be transferred by direction of the President as a loan to the Smithsonian Institution for its care, study, and storage or exhibition,” the law states.
The Democrats’ letter stressed that the law protects “fixtures,” and notes, “offices used by the First Lady’s staff, the military office, as well as a key entrance where the public arrives for tours and receptions—have been reduced to nothing but a pile of debris and rubble.”
“At this time, neither Congress nor the over 300 million Americans who actually own the White House are aware of what you have done to safeguard the objects in the East Wing that hold cultural and historic significance to the country,” the letter stated.
Raskin pointed out that it’s not the first time Trump appears to have disregarded preservationists and history for a real estate project, having reportedly smashed irreplaceable art while building Trump Tower in 1980.
“We urge you to halt this vanity project that is razing a treasured part of our national heritage,” the Democrats wrote, demanding that Trump provide an inventory of the East Wing’s “objects of historic significance” and a timeline of when the White House will resume tours.
