Letter: Here’s How To Protest Trump’s Renovation of the White House. We Have Until March 4

Last week, I published an article in the Indy about threats to our public art and architecture and the effort to save the Wilbur J. Cohen building in Washington, D.C. from demolition. But the issue is broader than the fight to save this building. There are a number of onslaughts on public history more generally. These start with the assault on DEI work and the impact of that assault on interpreting historic sites and teaching history (See also here).

A timeline from the Southern Poverty Law Center examines the steps the Trump administration has taken to revise history. Revisionism, as a practice in the academy, is a useful trend that can do much to expand and deepen themes and topics in the study and teaching of history. Revisions are part of how we understand our past, confront our present, and build better for the future, but the unprecedented (back when this word had meaning) reverse curve in policy is now fueled by racism. It seems to have begun in February 2025 when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced unilaterally that the administration was restoring the Confederate name [Fort Bragg] for Fort Liberty in California. 

More recently, we have witnessed the demolition, again, with total impunity and no due process (as with other actions by the current administration), of the East Wing of the White House. Trump has got tech billionaires to agree to fund a massive ballroom to take its place.. And the US Commission on Fine Arts (with appointees replaced by Trump in Jan. 2026) has now agreed to his plans. 

A good place to stop this general assault would be to pick your battles and shore up your firepower (especially for the midterms), but in the meantime, it would be helpful to oppose the renovation of the East Wing (its so-called “modernization”) by writing to protest the over-sized casino-style proposed ballroom that emulates other Trump projects. It also echos Putin’s similar love of red carpets, gilt, and pseudo-Neo-Classicism. 

I am sharing here a call by the National Trust for Historic Preservation that asks citizens to comment on the East Wing proposal. We have until March 4 to submit comments about the proposed ballroom, and they should be sent to the National Capital Planning Commission.  To comment, click on this link, then click on the “Submit Written Comments” button. Next, select “East Wing Modernization Project” from the pull-down menu.” Write your comments and don’t forget to press the submit button.  Note that the project is called “East Wing Modernization” on the pull-down menu. Here is a possible draft as wording for your comments, although the more specific and personal they are, the better.

I am writing to oppose spending $300 million on the East Wing Modernization project. In my opinion, it razes an important era in American history, when the White House became a place that embraced the work of the First Lady and her staff. This proposal was initiated without proper authorization, or permits, or design review. The East Wing was destroyed with no warning, no Architectural & Engineering Request for Proposals, no bids from contractors, and no abatement of hazardous materials; all as required by federal law.

I would like to see the East Wing rebuilt to its former design (that was scaled and in proportion to the rest of the building) and the administration’s project canceled. The current design is for an out-of-scale, out-of-place, and out-of-time pseudo-historical building.

No one is above the law and to permit this project to go ahead without penalizing those who broke the law would be an affront to all law-abiding Americans.

Hetty Startup

Hetty Startup is an architectural historian who lives in Amherst, where she serves on the Historical Commission and works with college students. She is a frequent contributor to the Amherst Indy.