Trump clashed with White House ballroom architect over safety code violations
The first architect on the White House ballroom project resigned after disputes with Trump over design features believed to violate building codes.
What to know
- Trump clashed with the first White House ballroom architect over design features the architect believed violated building safety codes.
- The dispute led to the architect's resignation last year.
- Washington Post investigation now reveals details of the conflict over safety standards compliance.
The ballroom project represents wasteful spending and unsafe design that violates codes.
-
“Trump stole taxpayer $$ to destroy the White House and replace it with a firetrap and too few ladies stalls.”
emptywheel.bsky.social · Bluesky ↗
“'I am the code'”
Donald Trump, President · Washington Post ↗
Donald Trump PresidentWhite House ballroom architect Lead architect on ballroom project
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlespostscomments
-
1
Washington Post publishes investigation into Trump-architect clash
The Washington Post publishes an investigation detailing the conflict between Trump and the ballroom architect over safety code compliance and design choices.
-
8 outlets Trump’s ballroom architect quit after president dismissed safety concern with the design: report
first by Mastodon, 12h ago · also MS NOW, Daily Kos, Mediaite, New Republic, Independent UK, Washington Post +1
7 more headlines
- New reporting sheds light on unsettling reason Trump's first ballroom architect quit MS NOW · 11h ago
- Architect reportedly warned Trump his ballroom will be a death trap Daily Kos · 11h ago
- Trump Reportedly Blew Off Safety Codes in White House Ballroom Construction: ‘I Am the Code’ Mediaite · 11h ago
- Trump Fought With Ballroom Architect Over Safety Issues Until He Quit New Republic · 11h ago
- Trump's ballroom architect quit after president dismissed safety concerns with the design: report The Independent · 11h ago
- ‘I am the code’: Trump clashed with ballroom architect over safety issues Washington Post · 11h ago
- Trump to Ballroom Architect: “I Am the Code” Mother Jones · 9h ago
-
The White House ballroom's first architect reportedly quit the project after he warned Trump that he was bypassing emergency exit routes and fire safety codes. Trump's response to the architect: "I am the code."
2 more of the top 3 · 217 posts in this stretch
-
C
WAPO: The architect quit “after warning repeatedly that Trump was insisting on a preliminary design that did not provide adequate emergency exit routes or fire-containment measures .. .. ‘I am the code,” Trump said.” @washingtonpost.com
-
S
"McCrery warned that most guests could not quickly leave through the main entrance in an emergency under that design, the Post reported, and he also said the other exits were insufficient and that little would stop a kitchen fire from spreading into the event space directly above." Trump accused of building 'death trap' at White House - Raw Story…
-
-
background
White House ballroom architect resigns over safety disagreements with Trump — The first architect assigned to the White House ballroom project resigned in the weeks preceding the resignation date, citing clashes with President Trump over design features that the architect believed violated building safety codes.
What people are saying 21 voices from 4 sites · best of 217 · verbatim
- Today
-
E
Sometimes, Building & Safety departments are literally just that and should not be fought against. Unless you're an idiot. Architect reportedly warned Trump his ballroom will be a death trap - Daily Kos The architect for President Donald Trump’s much-derided White House ballroom warned him that the project was in violation of safety standards and…
-
U
The first architect of the White House ballroom resigned after warning repeatedly that Trump was insisting on designs that violated fire and safety codes. “I am the code,” Trump said, per WaPo. # news # finance # economics # stocks # options
-
K
Trump doesn't believe fire codes or safety regulations apply to his ballroom. Someone needs to tell Trump about the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in Kentucky that killed 165 people and injured 200. https://www. washingtonpost.com/investigati ons/2026/09/23/i-am-code-trump-clashed-with-ballroom-architect-over-safety-issues/ # news # politics #…
-
L
BREAKING: First Trump ballroom architect resigned last year after Trump insisted on unsafe designs, Trump saying "I am the code" and declaring building codes didn't apply to White House (gift link):
-
“I am the code.” So said President Trump to the first architect working on the new White House ballroom being built on the ruins of the building’s East Wing, scoffing at his concerns over possible fire, health, and safety violations.
-
M
Me when Claude decides it knows more about Plinky’s architecture than me. https://www. washingtonpost.com/investigati ons/2026/09/23/i-am-code-trump-clashed-with-ballroom-architect-over-safety-issues
-
A
Paragraph from an article at Raw Story about fire and safety violations in trump's self-indulgent ballroom - "The Post could not determine whether a code review was ever completed, but two sources told the newspaper that Trump argued with McCrery before his departure, saying, "I am the code." " Some day soon our AI agents will speak like this…
-
The top architect for Trump's ballroom resigned after Trump repeatedly insisted that building codes such as emergency exit routes do not apply to the White House.
-
L
Das wird mein Standardspruch, wenn mir was auf der Arbeit, daheim oder im Straßenverkehr nicht passt! "I am the code" www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio... ‘I am the code’: Trump clashed...
-
I've said it before but I'm hoping this becomes some kind of Curb Your Enthusiasm comedy of errors, where everything culminates in things burning down or exploding. I think both they Reflecting Pool and the shoes he buys everyone that are too big would play a part in some way.
-
It’s amazing that he has so much money going into the project and he still wants to cut corners to make it cheaper by violating safety codes.
-
N
But it’s all about “national security” right? /s ‘I am the code’∶ # Trump clashed with # ballroom architect over # safety issues James McCrery II resigned in October after warning that Trump was insisting on designs that violated fire & safety codes. # law https://www. washingtonpost.com/investigati…
-
Approval floor’s ~20%. For anything. Like, including peanuts as a pizza topping and HPV.
-
Trump thinks he’s Louis XIV, the Sun King “monarque absolu”.
-
Well, if it’s just his donors and lackeys inside…
-
Trump Ordered Illegal Removal of Braille "Get rid of the [expletive] braille. No blind people are going to live in Trump Tower," Trump shouted, according to Res. "Just do it."
-
R
As a developer, Trump hated the regulations that called for making buildings handicapped accessible. Because he’s such a wonderful human being.
-
So Donald Trump is going to recreate the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire on the White House grounds.
-
“I shall be sequestering funds to pay for this by seizing all assets of the Trump Organization”
-
"This ballroom is a building code violation and must be torn down immediately." - New Democratic President 12:01 pm, January 20, 2029
-
Wild that people still support this man.