Trump has been remodeling the White House in gold and marble while polls show Americans struggle to put food on the table
Rachel Dobkin in New York
Tuesday 30 December 2025
THE INDEPENDENT
CNN Chief Political Analyst David Axelrod has said Republicans should be on edge over Donald Trump’s focus on remodeling Washington D.C., which he calls the president’s “Marie Antoinette thing.”
Trump has slapped marble down in the Palm Room, painted the Oval Office gold, paved over the Rose Garden for a new patio and most notably torn down the East Wing for his multi-million dollar ballroom.
His renovation plans have gone beyond the White House, including an Arc de Triomphe-style arch at the edge of D.C. and marble armrests for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which was recently renamed to include the president’s moniker.
But Axelrod, who previously served as a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama, warned that these shows of extravagance won’t sit well with voters who are struggling with the cost of living.
CNN Chief Political Analyst David Axelrod has said Republicans should be on edge over President Donald Trump’s focus on remodeling Washington D.C., which he called his 'Marie Antoinette thing' (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for The Atlantic)
“People are sitting around and thinking about how they’re gonna pay their bills and [Trump’s] posting stuff about how he’s gonna have marble handrails at the Kennedy Center and he’s posting pictures of his new marble Palm Room at the White House and so on,” Axelrod recently said on CNN.
He continued: "People are saying to themselves, 'What the hell does that have to do with me? I thought he was going to be fighting for me to bring my costs down.’ And he seems obsessed with gold and putting his name on things and remodeling buildings and rebuilding monuments to himself."
On the campaign trail, Trump promised voters he’d start bringing prices down “starting on Day One.”
Inflation has been cooling, with prices rising at a 2.7 percent annual rate in November, down from 3 percent in September, according to the government’s Consumer Price Index.
Trump has been remodeling the White House in gold and marble while polls show Americans struggle to put food on the table (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
While food costs are going down, energy costs are ticking up. The cost of food rose 2.6 percent in November compared to the year before, lower than 3.1 percent in September, according to government data. The cost of energy rose 4.2 percent in November compared to the previous year, up from 2.8 percent in September.
Axelrod says Trump’s efforts to remodel his current home amid an affordability crisis, “is a huge political problem for him.”
“It's a symbol of his distraction. It's the Marie Antoinette thing that he's got going. That is a big political problem,” the political analyst said, adding that while Trump is not on the ballot in the 2026 midterm elections, “Republicans should be really concerned about what they’re seeing.”
Trump tore down the East Wing of the White House for his multi-million dollar ballroom (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
This isn’t the first time Trump has been compared to the last queen of France, who became a symbol of selfish luxury as the public went hungry, ahead of the French Revolution.
Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, known for trolling Trump online, shared an AI-generated photo of Trump as Marie Antoinette in November during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
Newsom’s press team shared the image on X, along with the caption “GOOD NIGHT, PEASANTS!” in reaction to a report that Trump was traveling to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida as Americans faced flight delays and cancellations from the shutdown.
CNN Chief Political Analyst David Axelrod has said Republicans should be on edge over Donald Trump’s focus on remodeling Washington D.C., which he calls the president’s “Marie Antoinette thing.”
Trump has slapped marble down in the Palm Room, painted the Oval Office gold, paved over the Rose Garden for a new patio and most notably torn down the East Wing for his multi-million dollar ballroom.
His renovation plans have gone beyond the White House, including an Arc de Triomphe-style arch at the edge of D.C. and marble armrests for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which was recently renamed to include the president’s moniker.
But Axelrod, who previously served as a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama, warned that these shows of extravagance won’t sit well with voters who are struggling with the cost of living.
CNN Chief Political Analyst David Axelrod has said Republicans should be on edge over President Donald Trump’s focus on remodeling Washington D.C., which he called his 'Marie Antoinette thing' (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for The Atlantic)
“People are sitting around and thinking about how they’re gonna pay their bills and [Trump’s] posting stuff about how he’s gonna have marble handrails at the Kennedy Center and he’s posting pictures of his new marble Palm Room at the White House and so on,” Axelrod recently said on CNN.
He continued: "People are saying to themselves, 'What the hell does that have to do with me? I thought he was going to be fighting for me to bring my costs down.’ And he seems obsessed with gold and putting his name on things and remodeling buildings and rebuilding monuments to himself."
On the campaign trail, Trump promised voters he’d start bringing prices down “starting on Day One.”
Inflation has been cooling, with prices rising at a 2.7 percent annual rate in November, down from 3 percent in September, according to the government’s Consumer Price Index.
Trump has been remodeling the White House in gold and marble while polls show Americans struggle to put food on the table (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
While food costs are going down, energy costs are ticking up. The cost of food rose 2.6 percent in November compared to the year before, lower than 3.1 percent in September, according to government data. The cost of energy rose 4.2 percent in November compared to the previous year, up from 2.8 percent in September.
Axelrod says Trump’s efforts to remodel his current home amid an affordability crisis, “is a huge political problem for him.”
“It's a symbol of his distraction. It's the Marie Antoinette thing that he's got going. That is a big political problem,” the political analyst said, adding that while Trump is not on the ballot in the 2026 midterm elections, “Republicans should be really concerned about what they’re seeing.”
Trump tore down the East Wing of the White House for his multi-million dollar ballroom (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
This isn’t the first time Trump has been compared to the last queen of France, who became a symbol of selfish luxury as the public went hungry, ahead of the French Revolution.
Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, known for trolling Trump online, shared an AI-generated photo of Trump as Marie Antoinette in November during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
Newsom’s press team shared the image on X, along with the caption “GOOD NIGHT, PEASANTS!” in reaction to a report that Trump was traveling to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida as Americans faced flight delays and cancellations from the shutdown.
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