00:00You spoke and we listened. Every week we pull your best comments and questions from our YouTube
00:10community. And this week, one topic towered above the rest. This is Straight From You,
00:16where your curiosity drives the conversation. We break down fact from fiction, minus the spin.
00:22This week, the one topic that stood out above the rest, the demolition at the White House.
00:27This viewer asked, many presidents have renovated the White House. Why is that a bad thing?
00:33A lot of you have strong feelings about this. So let's dig in. First on the plans. No comprehensive
00:39plans have been made public. Construction is already underway without a formal sign-off
00:44from the National Capital Planning Commission. The commission's Trump-appointed chair says
00:49its authority applies to rebuilding, not demolition. That's according to PBS and the AP.
00:54Renderings released by the White House show a ballroom inspired by Mar-a-Lago. But President
01:00Trump insists it will pay total respect to the existing structure. Until plans are filed,
01:06no one really knows how connected or how intrusive the addition will be. Now why the backlash?
01:12History shows renovations have rarely been controversy-free. The White House Historical
01:17Association notes, Thomas Jefferson's East and West colonnades drew criticism for aristocratic optics.
01:25Andrew Jackson's North Portico triggered cost complaints during an economic downturn. The price
01:31tag? About $850,000. Teddy Roosevelt's 1902 overhaul that created the West Wing upset some lawmakers
01:39over the expense and the loss of conservatories. Franklin D. Roosevelt added the East Wing and an indoor pool
01:47amid partisan pushback. And Harry Truman's 1948 to 1952 renovation, rebuilding the interior walls
01:54behind the original walls, was fiercely debated at the time. But this current project stands out for
02:00its scale, speed, secrecy and funding. The new ballroom is 90,000 square feet, big enough for nearly
02:08a thousand guests. A former chief historian for the White House Historical Association told The Hill,
02:13there's never been anything like that before. ABC News adds that this is the first major construction
02:19on the grounds in nearly 80 years. On money, the White House says private donors will foot the bill,
02:26not taxpayers. Estimates are now up to $300 million. One report says $22 million of that
02:32comes from a YouTube settlement tied to a Trump lawsuit. Late yesterday, the White House released a
02:38full list of donors, including Amazon, Apple, Coinbase, Comcast, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and T-Mobile.
