Former First Lady Hillary Clinton came under sharp criticism this week after publicly denouncing Donald Trump’s privately funded $200 million-plus ballroom project at the White House. In her social-media post, she declared that the residence “isn’t his house… it’s your house. And he’s destroying it.”
However, many of the president’s supporters and prominent conservatives were quick to counter-attack, resurrecting a controversial episode from the 2001 departure of former President Bill Clinton and Mrs. Clinton — when the couple returned roughly $28,000 worth of White House furniture after paying approximately $86,000 to the federal government amid questions over whether donor gifts were properly accounted for.
Sen. Ted Cruz remarked on social media: “At least he didn’t steal the silverware,” in reference to the Clinton era. Others called the criticism hypocritical, arguing the Clintons had previously raised ethical questions over their handling of White House property. Meanwhile, Trump supporters defended the renovation as a long-overdue modernization of the White House, noting its private-funding status and framing Clinton’s comments as political opportunism.
The exchange represents the latest flashpoint in the ongoing partisan divide over how the iconic residence should be maintained, funded and represented.