What did Donald Trump do today?

He lashed out with name-calling at yet another female reporter asking about his ballroom.

Recently, a reporter asked a question about his pet ballroom project. We know this not because of any story that arose from his answer, but because this morning Trump posted a furious, insult-laden tirade about it to his private microblogging service:

Caitlin Collin’s of Fake News CNN, always Stupid and Nasty, asked me why the new Ballroom was costing more money than originally thought one year ago. I said because it is going to be double the size, and the quality of finishes and interiors has been brought to the highest level. Also, the column SPAN has been substantially increased for purposes of viewing. It is actually under budget and ahead of schedule, as my jobs always are. It’s just much bigger and more beautiful than originally planned. Interestingly, and seldom reported, there are no taxpayer dollars involved. It is being fully paid for by private donations. FAKE NEWS CNN, and the guy who runs the whole corrupt operation that owns it, is one of the worst in the business. Their ratings are so low that they’re not even counted or relevant anymore. MAGA!!! 

None of this is true, even the spelling of Kaitlan Collins' name, but a few things jump out. Trump's career as a builder is legendary for all the wrong reasons; even illegally hiring undocumented immigrants as laborers and refusing to pay his contractors hasn't kept his projects from busting their budgets—when they opened at all.

More importantly, the budget for Trump's pet ballroom hasn't gone up from "one year ago" because it was only announced in July of this year. Its budget has gone up from a supposed $200 million to a new moving target of $300 million since then. In part that's because Trump fired the first architect he hired for not being willing to inflate the building to an even more preposterous size than the initial plans called for.

Trump is also wrong about his claim that the private donations paying for the construction are underreported. In fact, precisely because companies and individuals looking to curry favor with Trump are using their donations to buy influence with him, it's been a major story.  

 

The ballroom project, which resulted in the total destruction of the East Wing of the People's House just days after Trump promised it would only be minimally impacted, is hideously unpopular with Americans. 

Why does this matter?

• It's not exactly news at this point that Trump can't stand even the mildest challenge from a woman, but it's still bad. 

• Bribery isn't a good alternative to public funding. 

• The destruction of the East Wing wasn't worth letting Donald Trump try to pretend to be a success in the building trades for once.