Joe Biden has launched one of his most pointed attacks yet on Donald Trump, branding the president a “loser” over a string of Washington renovation projects that have drawn accusations of vanity, waste and outright corruption.
Speaking at a Maryland Democrats gala in Hanover on Saturday evening, Biden drew prolonged cheering from the crowd as he worked through a list of Trump’s building schemes, from a planned White House ballroom to a controversial new arch and a botched resurfacing of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
“Tearing down the East Wing of the White House, making room for ‘his’ ballroom? Putting his name on the Kennedy Center. Building an arch in his own honour. Even hiring his own pool guy to fix the reflecting pool,” Biden said. “Whoa, what a loser.”
The remarks landed hard, and footage of the moment spread rapidly online, capturing a side of Biden that many in the party have been eager to see more of.
A pool, a ballroom and a legal battle
The reflecting pool controversy has been one of the more visually striking stories to come out of Trump’s so-called beautification drive. The administration awarded a no-bid contract to a friend of the president, widely referred to in press reports as Trump’s “pool guy”, to resurface and refurbish the Lincoln Memorial pool. The initial estimate was put at two million dollars. It has since ballooned to more than sixteen million, amid persistent algae blooms and visible damage to the pool’s new spray-painted aqua blue coating.
Over the past two weeks, large chunks of that coating have been seen floating to the surface in murky, discoloured water. Workers were photographed dumping hydrogen peroxide and other chemicals into the pool in an attempt to combat the algae. Last weekend, a dead duckling was found in the water during the cleaning operation. The National Parks Service and the president have attributed the damage to vandalism.
The White House ballroom project has produced equally striking images. Trump announced in March that the East Wing would be demolished to make way for a four-hundred-million-dollar ballroom, to be funded entirely through private donations. “We have no taxpayer putting up 10 cents,” he said at the time. Weeks before those public remarks, however, the project’s own contractor had warned the administration that total costs were likely to reach six hundred million dollars, with at least half of that expected to come from the public purse.
At the Kennedy Center, a separate legal dispute continues. A judge ordered Trump’s name removed from the building, ruling that only Congress holds the authority to rename a structure explicitly designated as a memorial to John F. Kennedy. Instead of complying, the administration covered the signage with grey tarp and scaffolding. A court last week demanded the administration explain why it remains obscured, and the case is still unresolved.
Corruption and a rallying cry
Beyond the renovation projects themselves, Biden used the Maryland gala to raise broader concerns about corruption during Trump’s second term. His remarks came as the New York Times reported growing alarm from Trump’s own former allies over the president’s conduct and fitness for office, with some describing his behaviour as “clearly insane.”
“He has no shame, and frankly it’s embarrassing for the country,” Biden said. “But Trump? Trump could care less.”
The former president reserved the closing section of his speech for a direct appeal to Democrats, urging them to build on recent momentum ahead of November’s midterm elections. The speech came as Trump drew fresh criticism from Britain’s likely next prime minister Andy Burnham, whom the president has dismissed as “extremely liberal, extremely” in comments that were widely ridiculed on both sides of the Atlantic.
“To all you who love our country, my message tonight is straightforward and simple: Get up, dammit. Get up now. Continue this fight!”
The Trump administration has framed many of its Washington renovation projects as preparations for America’s two-hundred-and-fiftieth birthday celebrations this summer, with events set to culminate around the Fourth of July. Sites including Union Station now carry large banners promoting the administration’s stated focus on cleaning up the capital.
Critics argue the projects tell a different story, one of no-bid contracts, cost overruns, legal challenges and a president more interested in leaving his name on the city’s landmarks than in governing it. Biden, for one, was happy to make that case in plain terms on Saturday night.
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