Donald Trump wants Americans to know that any criticisms they might have of the new Rose Garden should be directed at the subcontractors who built it.
The president defended his controversial decision to turn the manicured garden into a big stone patio on Saturday, while sharing a video of a construction worker damaging the limestone.
“I used, at the White House, the most beautiful marble and stone available anywhere. Surfaces are very important to me as a Builder,” he wrote on Truth Social. “I am very proud of the beautiful stonework we did in the Rose Garden… The Rose Garden is completed, and far more beautiful than anyone ever had in mind when it was conceived of, decades ago.”
Trump stopped praising his own handiwork long enough to criticize the people who actually built the slab.
“Three days ago, while admiring the stonework, I happened to notice a huge gash in the limestone that extended more than 25 yards long. It was deep and nasty!” he wrote. “I started yelling, ‘Who did this, and I want to find out now!’ — And I didn’t say this in a nice manner. I wondered, ‘Was it vandalism or, was it stupidity?'”
Trump went on to call the subcontractors “stupid” for using a broken cart while moving materials.
“I love and respect great workers and contractors, but something like this should never happen. Now, I’ll replace the stone, charge the contractor, and never let that contractor work at the White House again,” he wrote.
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Even without the damaged limestone, Trump’s revamp of the Rose Garden has proven unpopular. Images of the mega-patio covered in a series of white four-top tables inspired disgust from social media users.
“When a trashy tacky reality tv criminal bulldozes the White House Rose Garden to make a patio-styled food court for himself,” one X user wrote.
“Stripped, paved, lifeless,” wrote another. “Everything Trump touches dies.”
