What did Donald Trump do today?

He threw a tantrum about not getting a billion dollars for the "free" ballroom he wants to build.

Trump has tried to justify building his "military top-secret ballroom" by claiming that it is being paid for by private donations. Even setting aside the obvious corruption implications of letting companies with business before the White House buy the president's goodwill by paying for his pet project, Trump's claim isn't true: the "gifts" that tech companies, crypto scammers, lobbyists, and tobacco companies are making are tax-deductible. There's no difference between a dollar the Treasury spends and one it never receives—taxpayers are footing the bill either way.

But it's also false because Trump has demanded $1 billion in appropriations for the ballroom project, directly from taxpayers. Specifically, he's demanded that Senate Republicans try to force that funding through the budget reconciliation process, where Democrats could not mount a filibuster. Budget reconciliation is a complex parliamentary procedure and in order to be included in it, an appropriation must meet a number of legal standards. The person who adjudicates that process, under the Senate's rules, is the Senate Parliamentarian.

Over the weekend, the parliamentarian (whose name is Elizabeth MacDonough) ruled that the ballroom budget line did not qualify. Trump responded today by ranting about how she was appointed by President Obama in 2012 and demanding that she be fired.

Trump is confused: the president doesn't appoint the Senate Parliamentarian. But in any event, Senate Republicans, who rely on the consistent process that MacDonough oversees as much as Democrats, don't seem eager to take Trump up on his demand. 

In spite of the fact that the reason he was angry was that MacDonough's ruling means he won't be able to get a billion-dollar appropriation of public funds for his ballroom, Trump then immediately repeated his claim that the building was his personal "gift" that wouldn't cost taxpayers anything. "All this is being paid for by myself," Trump said, although he himself isn't contributing anything at all, unless he decides to pay his taxes this year.

Why does this matter?

• No amount of repetition makes the phrase "military top-secret ballroom" less embarrassing for a president to say. 

• The rest of the United States government doesn't need Donald Trump's permission to do its job.