WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President had something urgent to address while flying back to Washington from his on a recent Sunday.
It wasn鈥檛 the , nor the partial government shutdown over funding. He was focused on a monumental issue of a different kind, hoisting artist renderings of the $400 million White House he鈥檚 building, complete with hand-carved 鈥渢op-of-the-line鈥� Corinthian columns.
鈥淚鈥檓 so busy that I don鈥檛 have time to do this. I鈥檓 fighting wars and other things,鈥� Trump said before extensively detailing plans for 鈥渢he greatest ballroom anywhere in the world.鈥�
His divided attention has become a Democratic point of attack and a concern for some Republicans who on issues that voters care most about ahead of November鈥檚 midterm races.
The contrast was on full display Thursday, when, as Trump flew to Las Vegas to discuss tax cuts for Americans earning tips, his administration was pushing ahead with another of his splashy projects: Plans to build a near the Lincoln Memorial replete with a Lady Liberty-like statue and a pair of golden eagles.
The president鈥檚 has always with his biography as a billionaire real estate developer. Yet his populist policies and during his 2024 campaign helped catapult him back to the White House.
Republican strategist Rick Tyler noted that, when Trump first ran for president in 2016, his wealth was a selling point.
鈥淲hile other people, like Mitt Romney, played down how rich he was, Trump was giving free helicopter rides at the Iowa State Fair,鈥� Tyler said. 鈥淧eople loved it.鈥�
Still, Trump鈥檚 preoccupation with some of the gilded trappings of the presidency, as more Americans worry about bills, has drawn accusations that he鈥檚 a modern-day Marie Antoinette.
鈥溾�楩ighting wars鈥� and surging gas prices, yet Trump has time to brag about his billionaire backed ballroom,鈥� Sen. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, responded on X to Trump鈥檚 Air Force One presentation.
Democratic California Gov. , a potential 2028 presidential hopeful, has been more direct in comparing Trump to the last queen before the French Revolution, who has come to embody extravagant opulence 鈥� even posting an AI-generated image of Trump’s face on her body on social media.
鈥淭RUMP 鈥楳ARIE ANTOINETTE鈥� SAYS, 鈥楴O HEALTH CARE FOR YOU PEASANTS, BUT A BALLROOM FOR THE QUEEN!鈥欌�� 91欧美激情om wrote in October 2025, at the start of last fall’s .
White House says Trump’s success benefits all Americans
Asked about opponents invoking Marie Antoinette, White House spokesman Davis Ingle said Trump 鈥渋s going to go down in history as the most successful and consequential president in our lifetime.鈥�
鈥淗is successes on behalf of the American people will be imprinted upon the fabric of America and will be felt by every other White House that comes after him,” Ingle said in a statement.
The president faced similar critiques during his first term. But lately he’s been unabashed about accusations he鈥檚 disconnected from Americans’ worries about , which could leave Republicans with an to retain control of Congress.
Republicans have been loath to question Trump, though notably there has been little criticism of a that work on the project must stop until it has congressional approval. The GOP-controlled House and Senate also haven鈥檛 prioritized legislation to move the ballroom project forward.
鈥淚鈥檓 not much into architecture,鈥� Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said last fall.
About two-thirds of Americans said Trump is 鈥渙ut of touch鈥� with the concerns of most people in the United States today, according to an from February, though the same percentage said the same about the Democratic Party.
Presidents are usually removed from voters, separated by layers of security and surrounded by adoring subordinates. In her book 鈥淲hy Presidents Fail And How They Can Succeed Again,鈥� Elaine Kamarck argues that presidents get too focused on their own political narratives rather than the public’s concerns. Yet, when it comes to Trump, 鈥淎ll of this stuff is frankly unique to him.鈥�
She pointed to the ballroom as well as Trump’s , soon adding his and renaming .
鈥淚t’s a reflection, I think, of his own background as a businessman and somebody who made his fortune selling his name,” said Kamarck, who worked in Bill Clinton鈥檚 White House.
While Trump focuses on the ballroom and other , some public work projects in other parts of the country have languished.
Joe Meyer, the former mayor of Covington, Kentucky, spent years pushing for critical improvements to the Brent Spence Bridge connecting his town with Cincinnati, a project listed as a top federal priority dating back to Trump’s first administration.
Federal funds for improvements were approved under President but held up by a Trump-ordered review. Work is now finally set to begin later this year, though delays will likely limit design options and slow the project, Meyer said.
鈥淭he ballroom is Washington inside-baseball,鈥� Meyer said. 鈥淭he bridge is just a wreck. It鈥檚 frustration that we鈥檝e been dealing with forever.鈥�
A $100 tip and a golden tractor
Trumpeting new tax deductions for tips, Trump staged to the Oval Office 鈥� which he has 鈥� and tipped the grandmother making the delivery $100. When she described large medical bills from her husband鈥檚 cancer treatments, Trump said she should bring him to an upcoming UFC fight on the White House lawn.
When hundreds of farmers were invited to the White House for an agricultural policy speech, they stood on the South Lawn beside a tractor that had been painted gold. It drizzled, but Trump stayed dry, addressing them from a covered second-floor balcony.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 mind rain,鈥� the president told the farmers below.
He then flew to Miami for a conference of Saudi investors who, the president noted, were too rich to be impressed by U.S. families scrounging to save up $5,000.
鈥淚 know they鈥檙e looking like, 鈥榃hat the hell is $5,000?鈥�” Trump joked. “Their shoes cost them more than $5,000.”
When asked in February, meanwhile, for his message to young people wanting to buy a home, Trump replied: 鈥淪ave a little longer. Wait a little longer.”
Members of the Cabinet have also fed the perception that Trump’s promised 鈥� 鈥� may not be arriving for everyone. Health Secretary advised Americans to buy liver instead of beef.
鈥淚f you go and buy a steak, it鈥檚 still pretty expensive. But if you buy the cheaper cuts, it鈥檚 great meat. And it is very, very affordable. Or liver, or, you know, all these alternatives,鈥� he told podcast host Joe Rogan.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said people could still afford meals consisting of 鈥渁 piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, corn tortilla and one other thing.鈥�
Texas-based Republican consultant Brendan Steinhauser said he thinks that Trump 鈥渃an kind of get away with” building a ballroom because voters have come to expect that from him as a brash dealmaker and businessman.
But Steinhauser said he worries that and a potentially could resonate with voters. Ahead of the midterms, Steinhauser said, Democrats could score points 鈥渢rying to make it more about Trump and his oligarch friends.鈥�
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Associated Press writers Linley Sanders in Washington and Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.
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