Gavin Newsom likened President Donald Trump to a certain controversial French monarch for continuing his ballroom construction amid the government shutdown.
The California governor’s press office posted an edited image of Trump’s face overlayed on a fictitious portrait of France’s last queen, with the caption, “TRUMP ‘MARIE ANTOINETTE’ SAYS, ‘NO HEALTH CARE FOR YOU PEASANTS, BUT A BALLROOM FOR THE QUEEN!’”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
The president, known for his extravagant taste, is nearly tripling the size of his residence with a $200 million gilded expansion.
A White House official confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday that the construction will be unaffected by the shutdown.
“There will not be a stoppage of ballroom work when the shutdown occurs,” the official said.
President Donald Trump’s obsession with all things gold is apparent in renderings of his planned ballroom. / McCrery Architects PLLC
Trump’s aides clarified that donors are privately funding the 90,000-square-foot addition to the Executive Suite, so the shutdown, which began at 12:01 a.m. EST on Wednesday, does not affect it.
CBS News previously reported that companies helping to foot the bill include Google, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Palantir. And on Monday, Alphabet-owned YouTube handed over $22 million to the Trust for the National Mall “to support the construction of the White House State Ballroom” while settling a lawsuit.
Newsom’s press office trolled Trump earlier over the continued work by posting a mock conversation between “DEMOCRATS,” “MAGA,” and the president.
The post on X read, “DEMOCRATS: Lets make health care more affordable — lets keep the ongoing funding!”
The office wrote “MAGA,” as replying “No,” and President Trump as replying, “‘Go F— Yourself’ (actual quote) and I’m gonna keep building my ballroom.”
The expletive quote refers to a White House official telling Politico last week that Trump “read all the s— they’re asking for, and he said, ‘on second thought, go f— yourself,’” in response to Democrats’ demands to avoid a shutdown.
