Wednesday, January 7, 2026

Trump White House vanity project: Ballroom asbestos blitz

 
Headline:  Washington Post, 1/7/2026

Dan Diamond and Olivia George report:
Public health advocates sued the Trump administration Wednesday to compel officials to disclose whether their rapid demolition of the White House’s East Wing annex exposed workers or the public to hazardous building materials. 
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, which filed Freedom of Information Act requests in November but says it has yet to receive any relevant documents, is demanding that the White House explain whether it undertook asbestos inspections, air monitoring, waste disposal safeguards and other legally required steps as part of its demolition project. 
Linda Reinstein, the organization’s leader, said she and colleagues decided to seek answers after watching clouds of dust billow from the construction site as demolition crews reduced the decades-old White House annex to rubble, tearing the structure down in three days as part of President Donald Trump’s plan to build an expansive White House ballroom.  [emphasis added]

Related posts:
January 2026

December 2025
Quote from Shalom Baranes, Trump's new White House ballroom architect:  "My work would be impossible without my fellow immigrants".  (12/7)

November 2025
White House Ballroom oversight gaps emerge: Let us count the ways  (Part 1:  National Capital Planning Commission).  (11/18)
What did Donald Trump know about the demolition of the East Wing of White House and when did he know it?  (11/2)

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