Glenn Beck told a fun story about a recent visit to the White House, where he had a conversation with President Trump about the thinking that went into the new “gilded” Oval Office and the construction of a massive ballroom on the site of the East Wing. Beck says Trump told him: “You see all the gold? It’s so important. These foreign leaders-they all come from palaces, and they don’t understand. And I know the White House is different, America is different, but they understand power in a different way. They’re coming from these old countries and these big buildings and these palaces. And it is important for us to project power.” “That is why he’s doing it. It’s not because he likes gold; he’s doing it to project power and wealth,” Beck commented. “Notice how many prime ministers-they’re all flying in all the time from all over the world. I’ve never seen a president meet with so many foreign dignitaries in the White House, all the time.”

STU: I actually do have questions about this, though… I feel like there would have to be a conversation or a bill passed before we put a giant new building on the White House. But that’s not how it works at all, is it? GLENN BECK: The president says, “I want to change the White House. And the White House Architect says, “How?” And the he says, “This way.” And the architect says, “OK, well you need to approva all the permits.” “OK, well, I approve all the permits.” Thsts literally how it works. … STU: I thought there would be more of a process. GLENN BECK: Nope! STU: Because I don’t know that the American people realize what is about to happen. The White House is going to double in size… Maybe more than two times the size. GLENN BECK: It’s going to be large, but it is not the actual White House. It is the East Wing. The White House is the original piece from the 1700s, the center house. The East Wing and the West Wing were added later, under FDR. The biggest change to the White House happened in our lifetime, after 9/11. The White House became enormous, but it was all underground. … STU: Well, that’s underground! I’m just surprised there wasn’t a big conversation or, like, a bill. GLENN BECK: So was Donald Trump. I’m in the White House with him, and he’s showing me some things he’s doing… And he brings up the ballroom. And we’re walking from the residence to the ballroom. He says, “This is the ballroom where Abraham Lincoln had dinner.” And it’s that window where Frederick Douglass had to crawl in because he’s black… And we were talking about all the history of the ballroom and how it is very, very small. Because it was buuilt in the 1700s, and we keep using it. And he was like, “We’ve got to have a bigger ballroom. We have it out in the wet and the cold and the rain.” Yada yada. We go over to the window, and he says, “Right there, we’re gonna build a big, beautiful ballroom. And it’s gonna be better than anybody thinks, it’s gonna be the biggest, most beautiful ballroom.” And I’m trying not to laugh. That’s the way he describes it. And he said, “I’m surprised I could do that.. And I said, “How long is that process gonna take?” And he’s like, “Right? That’s what I asked.” He said, “I went to the chief usher and said, I think we should have a ballroom, what do we do?” And the usher said to talk to the White House architect. So he goes to talk to the architect. This is the guy who makes sure the integrity of the White House stays. Like you can’t make it into a modern house, you’re not going to redesign the inside. You can add a lot of gold, I guess, but you can’t wreck the integrity of the White House. And he said, You know, I just put these flagpoles in. And he’s like, All I had to say is, ‘I want to put some flagpoles in.’ They’re like, Yes, sir. Where? He’s like, What? And he’s like, One in the front, one in the back. And they’re like, Okay, just show us where. So he went out to the yard and was like, Right here, right there. And they put them up. So he’s talking to the White House architect, and he said, We’ve got to have a ballroom, and I think we should have it over here in the East Wing-big, beautiful. And he said, But what is this going to take? And the architect’s like, Well, it’s going to be very expensive. Are you expecting the people to pay? He’s like, No, I’ll raise the money for it. I’ll pay for it, and I’ll raise the money extra so the American people are not going to pay for it. And the architect said, Well, then all you have to do is sign the permits. And he’s like, What? And they said, Well, you have to go through the permitting process. And he said, How long is that going to take? And they said, Well, the president is the one who controls the process and signs the permit. So-as short as you’d like it to be, Mr. President. He’s like, Are you kidding me? And he looked at me and said, I’ll have this done by spring of next year. So, he can change it. What you have to understand is: the East Wing and the West Wing-those are FDR. FDR added those wings as a works project. The East Wing is where the First Lady’s offices are. The East Wing is… it’s just the East Wing. So what he’s doing is taking some of it down, and he’s going to link it to the ballroom. And the ballroom is going to be “the biggest, most beautiful ballroom in Washington, D.C.” It’s going to link from there. So if you’re in the White House, you’ll walk from the front door through the dining room-or the East Dining Room-into the East Wing, and then to the ballroom. I won’t tell the whole story-though I really want to, desperately. But, you know, he’s gilding everything, and that’s not necessarily my favorite look, you know, right? And he came in-Tania and I were alone in the Oval for a while; we were talking about it-and he comes in. He says, You know, I’m doing all this. You see all the gold? Like, Yes, I can’t miss it.” You can’t miss the gold. And he’s like, It’s so important. These foreign leaders-they all come from palaces, and they don’t understand. And I know the White House is different, America is different, but they understand power in a different way. They’re coming from these old countries and these big buildings and these palaces. And it is important for us to project power. And that is why he’s doing it. It’s not because he likes gold; he’s doing it to project power and wealth. Notice how many prime ministers-they’re all flying in all the time from all over the world. I’ve never seen a president meet with so many foreign dignitaries in the White House, all the time.

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