tRump is using the people’s house, the house for the president while he is in office as if it was one of his own properties. Like he was always going to stay there. He is acting like the White House should be a palace like the Saudi royalty or the English kings / queens. He wants the place to be spectacle and pomp instead of what it really is for, a work place for the president to live and work. He also spends the public treasury paid for by the taxpayer as his own private checking account when the laws say that is illegal. Congress approves the budget not the president, but the republicans in congress are too afraid of him to even say anything. I bet you they find their voice if a democrat wins the presidency. Hugs.
President Donald Trump is continuing his renovations of the White House with potential new additions to the West Wing.
After demolishing the White House’s East Wing to make way for a new ballroom in 2025, Trump is now setting his sights on the colonnade linking the West Wing to the executive residence, where he wants to add a second level.
The administration unveiled the plan during a meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission in Washington this week.
Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The White House announced the East Wing ballroom project in late July, with demolition beginning in October, when workers were seen tearing it down.
The White House has said the project will be funded by private donations and no taxpayer burden, though the projected cost has increased from an estimate of $200 million to $400 million.
New Renovation Plans
In an interview with The New York Times on Wednesday, Trump said he was calling the project the “Upper West Wing.” He said it was still in the design phase and that the space could be used for additional West Wing offices or serve as “first ladies’ offices for future first ladies.” These were previously in the East Wing.
The project’s architect, Shalom Baranes, said the White House was weighing up the one-story addition to the West Wing to restore what he described as the complex’s “symmetry” once the East Wing ballroom was finished.
Architect Shalom Baranes shows elevation drawings for a new $400 million ballroom at the White House to members of the National Capital Planning Commi… | Chip Somodevilla/Getty
“I did mention the potential for a future addition, a one-story addition to the West Wing,” Baranes told the commission. “The reason to think about that is so that we would reinstate symmetry along the central pavilion of the White House.”
He made the remarks after unveiling plans for a two-story colonnade that would link the East Room to the new ballroom. The ballroom is set to be about 22,000 square feet and designed to accommodate 1,000 seated guests.
In a statement released in July, the White House said the “much-needed and exquisite addition” would add “approximately 90,000 total square feet of ornately designed and carefully crafted space, with a seated capacity of 650 people—a significant increase from the 200-person seated capacity in the East Room of the White House.”
Backlash
The overall renovation plans have been met with some backlash in recent months.
In December, the National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit to stop the East Wing project, saying the administration had dodged a required review process for federal projects. During a hearing in the case, the administration told a federal judge it would submit the project’s plans to the appropriate federal oversight bodies. The judge said he would schedule a follow-up hearing in January to review the White House’s process and declined to halt construction in the meantime.
The trust said following the meeting on Thursday: “Today’s NCPC informational presentation about the White House ballroom was a good and necessary first step. The National Trust continues to urge the Administration to comply with all legally required review and approval processes before commencing construction, including the NCPC, the Commission of Fine Arts, compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, and approval by Congress.”
It added that it looked “forward to the American people having a voice in the process moving forward.”
OK everyone tired of myself pushing / punishing posts about my childhood please skip this one. I won’t be talking much about my abuse only in vague terms. I am very tired, got up early to take care of the cat and been doing as much as I could all day. But I was OK, when my back gave out I let Ron do the dishes while I dried them so we could have the supper I made. It was a pork tender lion seasoned my way, mashed potatoes, green beans, and brown gravy. By the time that Ron was done, I was exhausted and hardly able to stand up, so he took over washing while I dried the few remaining dishes.
Then when I finished eating and got back to blogging. That was when YouTube slammed me with the song I will put at the bottom. The song is about a man and child abandoned by the mother as she got wealthy. But in my case when I did talk to my sires kids they told me why the little boy that was so shortly in their home and disappeared never to be spoken of. Seems that my sire’s wife said she wouldn’t tolerate another one of his off spring with other women to live in their house. She was already raising several of his children from women not her, and she was going to pull the line here. The little boy who already knew to hide and not be seen did not come into her concern at all. According to her daughter she was not a really nice person as she tried to pretend to the world she was. She simply did not care what happened to me as long as I was not in HER house nor taking her husband’s time away from her own kids. I asked my real sibling if the wife knew what would happen to me, and she said yes but she was willing to have it happen rather than take me into her home. I still have the letter and it causes me to cry each time, that an adult knew what I was going to face but simply did not care as raising me safety was more work for her and a reminder of her husband fucking other women.
So the song. All that glitters is not gold. I often wondered what would have happened to me if I had been raised in that family instead of the abusive one I did. But would it have been as abusive in the house of my sire as in the house of my adopting rapists? My sister from that family thinks in some ways yes. No I wouldn’t have been raped but I would have been blamed for everything wrong, I might have been disciplined very harshly, and yes made the scape goat of everything wrong in the family … if the man who sired me had let her do it. All just too scary and hurtful. A little boy sold to abusers because adults couldn’t reconcile where and how they used their private parts. I will place the song below and you can tell me if my tears were worth it. Hugs.
From coast to coast, Americans are being harassed, assaulted, injured, and even murdered by sneering masked thugs hired to attack their countrymen as part of a vengeance presidency that is obsessed with hurting people for sport.
Portland Avenue and 34th Street in South Minneapolis where City of Minneapolis officials have confirmed an ICE agent shot an observer. A neighbor who saw what happened told local MPR news: “She was trying to turn around, and the ICE agent was in front of her car, and he pulled out a gun and put it right in — like, his midriff was on her bumper — and he reached across the hood of the car and shot her in the face like three, four times,” (Photo: Chad Davis)
Under wannabe dictator Donald Trump, the federal agencies of the United States tasked with keeping the nation safe are rapidly becoming a grave threat to the physical safety of the American people, as trigger-happy officers open fire on those they’re supposed to be protecting with increasing frequency in communities across the country.
Then, on October 5th, 2025, agents shot thirty-one-year-old Marimar Martinezin Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood. Martinez was not seriously injured and was thus able to drive away. Although she committed no crime, Trump’s minions charged her and a companion for assault and attempted murder. But prosecutors were forced to drop all charges against both of them only a few weeks later, with her attorney stating: “These agents jumped out and shot Ms. Martinez, a U.S. citizen, whose only crime was warning her fellow community members that ICE was in the neighborhood… That is not a crime. She didn’t deserve to be shot.”
Today, officials at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis said that “armed U.S. Border Patrol officers came on school property during dismissal Wednesday and began tackling people, handcuffed two staff members and released chemical weapons on bystanders.” MPR News spoke to a school official about the incident, who related on condition of anonymity: “The guy, I’m telling him like, ‘Please step off the school grounds,’ and this dude comes up and bumps into me and then tells me that I pushed him, and he’s trying to push me, and he knocked me down… They don’t care. They’re just animals… I’ve never seen people behave like this.”
Also today, right here in the Pacific Northwest, CBP agents opened fire on a man and woman believed to be a married couple in the parking lot of Adventist Medical Center Pavilion in southeast Portland. Here’s more from The New York Times: “The driver of the vehicle that federal officials fired into drove off after the shooting, local officials said, and the victims were found by the police more than two miles away, with gunshot wounds. Emergency medical technicians who rushed the victims to hospitals described both as Spanish speakers in conversations captured by emergency radio broadcasts. The woman had a gunshot wound to the chest, an E.M.T. told a dispatcher. The man was described as having two gunshot wounds.
Details about this latest shooting in Portland are still coming into focus. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) posted a statement to Twitter about the shooting which was subsequently deleted — and that leads us to worry that the investigation may already have been compromised by political interference from Trump’s regime.
“This violence in our community is devastating,” Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said. “These are not statistics. These are human beings. Portland is not a training ground for militarized agents. When the administration talks about using ‘full force,’ we are seeing what that means on our streets. The consequences are not abstract. They are felt in hospital rooms, in living rooms, in the quiet moments when families try to make sense of what happened. We know what the federal government says happened here. There was a time when we could take them at their word. That time is long past.”
“That is why we are calling on ICE to halt all operations in Portland until a full and independent investigation can take place. Our community deserves answers. Our community deserves accountability. And most of all, our community deserves peace.”
“We are all shaken and outraged by another terrible, unnecessary violent event instigated by the reckless agenda of the Trump administration, this time in our own state, in our largest city, coming just one day after the tragedy in Minnesota,” said Governor Tina Kotek, the chief executive of Oregon.
“While details remain limited, one thing is clear: when a president endorses tearing families apart, and attempts to govern through fear and hate rather than shared values, he fosters an environment of lawlessness and recklessness.”
“I am aligned with Mayor Wilson: the priority right now is a full, completed investigation, not more detentions,” the governor added. “The Attorney General, district attorneys, and I have been clear about our concerns with the excessive use of force by federal agents in Portland, and today’s incident only heightens the need for transparency and accountability. Oregonians deserve clear answers.”
“There are those who want to cause chaos. But Oregonians know how to stand up and speak out, peacefully. We must remain united in peaceful opposition to efforts to tear our communities apart and turn against one another. We will not take the bait.”
“I am grateful to the first responders who have been on the frontline of today’s events. The state will continue to support Portland, and stand united with Minnesota.”
“Huge concern about a reported shooting of two individuals by federal agents outside Portland Adventist Hospital,” said Senator Jeff Merkley, Oregon’s junior United States Senator. “My team and I are closely monitoring this situation and are working hard to get answers. I will share any updates as I learn more.”
The Preamble to the United States Constitutions explicitly refers to “domestic tranquility.” That’s how important it was to the Framers that the people of this country be able to live peacefully and prosperously, without fear of social disorder or unrest. Domestic tranquility is a key objective of our plan of government, and the federal government is supposed to meet that objective by enforcing the laws with great care and discretion.
Obviously, that’s not happening right now.
And that’s fine with the people who worship Trump.
What happens when law enforcement officers attack the very people they’re supposed to protect? What then? People are trying to go about their lives in this country and they’re ending up killed or injured because trigger-happy agents full of testosterone have been told they can be as brutal, aggressive, and careless as they want to anyone they happen to come across — and they won’t be held accountable or punished.
This is not “law and order,” this is oppression and systemic violence. Trump has decreed it and Republicans at every level — federal, state, and local — are enabling it.
Renee Nicole Good was murdered on-camera. The footage is widely available. It’s ghastly and horrific. We can see with our own eyes and hear with our own ears that we are being lied to on repeat about yesterday’s tragic events.
That’s exactly what Trump-controlled federal agencies are doing.
With Trump’s kakistocratic regime, no American is safe. This is a government of the least qualified and most unscrupulous individuals in the land. It’s the worst government in modern American history by a lot, and the terrible people who are in it seem determined to staking a claim to being the very worst government of all time.
It is our patriotic duty and moral responsibility — all of us who are loyal to the Constitution and to the values of freedom, inclusion, peace, and tolerance — to fiercely oppose this regime and all the evils it is trying to inflict on our country.
In memory of Silvero Villegas-Gonzalez and Renee Nicole Good and everyone else who has died at the hands of the thugs working for Donald Trump, we will carry on.
When I first posted this I was rushing to do a lot of things. I failed to post the entire article. So this is try two to see if I can do it correctly this time. Here is the rest of the story. Hugs.
There are videos at the web page of the article linked below. Sorry I do not trust or give credit to the words / stories from the government. It is just sending the message to ICE thugs that the government have their backs when they terrorize, harass, and kill people. Instant obedience to their self created authority / power grab is what they want. Let’s not give it to them, but do try to stay safe when using your right to protest. Hugs
Federal immigration agents shot and wounded two people in a vehicle outside a hospital in Portland on Thursday, a day after an officer fatally shot a woman in Minnesota, authorities said.
The shooting drew hundreds of protesters to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building at night, and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield vowed to investigate “whether any federal officer acted outside the scope of their lawful authority” and refer criminal charges to the prosecutor’s office if warranted.
The Department of Homeland Security said the vehicle’s passenger was “a Venezuelan illegal alien affiliated with the transnational Tren de Aragua prostitution ring” who was involved in a recent shooting in the city. When agents identified themselves to the occupants during a “targeted vehicle stop” in the afternoon, the driver tried to run them over, the department said in a statement.
“Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot,” it said. “The driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene.”
There was no immediate independent corroboration of that account or of any gang affiliation of the vehicle’s occupants. During prior shootings involving agents from President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdowns in U.S. cities, including the fatal one Wednesday in Minneapolis, video evidence has cast doubt on the administration’s characterizations of what prompted the shootings.
Law enforcement officials work the scene following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded people in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Trump and his allies have consistently blamed the Tren de Aragua gang for being at the root of violence and drug dealing in some U.S. cities.
According to the Portland Police bureau, officers initially responded to a report of a shooting outside Adventist Health hospital at 2:18 p.m. Thursday.
A few minutes later, police received information that a man who had been shot was asking for help in a residential area a couple of miles away. Officers went there and found a man and a woman with gunshot wounds. Officers determined that they were injured in the shooting with federal agents, police said.
Law enforcement officials work the scene following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded people in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Their conditions were not immediately known. Portland police said officers applied a tourniquet to one of them.
City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney said during a meeting that “as far as we know, both of these individuals are still alive, and we are hoping for more positive updates throughout the afternoon.”
At a nighttime news conference, Police Chief Bob Day said the FBI was leading the investigation and he had no details about the events that led to the shooting.
Mayor Keith Wilson and the City Council called on ICE to end all operations in Oregon’s largest city until a full investigation is completed.
Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez, center, speaks to the media following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded people in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
“We stand united as elected officials in saying that we cannot sit by while constitutional protections erode and bloodshed mounts,” they said in a statement. “Portland is not a ‘training ground’ for militarized agents, and the ‘full force’ threatened by the administration has deadly consequences.”
Wilson also suggested at a news conference that he does not necessarily believe the federal government’s account of the shooting: “There was a time we could take them at their word. That time is long past.”
Democratic State Sen. Kayse Jama, who lives near where it took place, said Oregon is a welcoming state — but he told federal agents to leave.
“You are not welcome,” Jama said. “You need to get the hell out of Oregon.”
The city officials said “federal militarization undermines effective, community‑based public safety, and it runs counter to the values that define our region. We’ll use every legal and legislative tool available to protect our residents’ civil and human rights.”
They urged residents to show up with “calm and purpose during this difficult time.”
Several dozen people gathered in the evening near the scene where police found the wounded people.
“It’s just been chaos,” said one, Anjalyssa Jones. “The community is trying to get answers.”
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, urged protesters to remain peaceful.
“Trump wants to generate riots,” he said on the social platform X. “Don’t take the bait.”
___
Johnson reported from Seattle. Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed.
Annie at the link above has some grand information that we all should be aware of. She even included things people can do even if they can’t or are frightened to go to a protest. Please give the site a read, at this point we all need to do anything we can to stop the Stephen Miller’s out of control unrestrained untrained Gestapo gang thugs from terrorizing the public while demanding complete unquestioned obedience. Hugs
Scottie's Playtime 