Trump says Obama "wouldn't understand" White House renovations
"I would try and explain that to a guy like Obama, but he wouldn't understand," President Trump said at a rally in Mississippi.
Key points
- President Trump said former President Barack Obama "wouldn't understand" the White House renovations he has undertaken.
- Obama said at a Michigan rally that the White House now looks "like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory."
- Trump called the renovation spending "peanuts" and said the White House is in better shape than in 1792.
President Trump said Monday that former President Barack Obama "wouldn't understand" the renovations he has made at the White House, responding to Obama's recent criticism of the changes.
Speaking at a campaign stop in Mississippi, Trump said the White House "represents our country, and has to be pristine," and that he would try to explain this to Obama but that Obama would not understand. He said the White House must be clean and beautiful and cannot have cracks in the columns.
Obama's rally remarks
At a rally in Michigan on Saturday for Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, Obama listed Trump's changes, including a massive ballroom, a new helipad on the South Lawn and more decorating. He said Trump "should be on HGTV" and joked that the White House looks "like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory." Many Democrats applauded the comments while conservatives criticized them as out of touch.
He's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.
— Barack Obama
Trump's response on spending
Trump mentioned Obama's remarks several times at Monday's rally, saying the money spent on renovations is "peanuts" and that "the White House is now in better shape than it was in 1792." He said he took over a White House in horrible condition. Both men are campaigning in battleground states in the final days before Election Day, and Trump has also drawn attention with trips to deep-red areas such as Monday's Mississippi visit.
