Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton skewered President Donald Trump on Friday, calling his White House renovations tacky and agreeing with journalist Kara Swisher that his decor is reminiscent of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
“You know, when I was in Baghdad after the fall of Saddam Hussein, I had meetings. I was then a senator. I had meetings in some of his palaces, and they were quite reminiscent of what we are seeing in our own White House. It’s just insane,” Clinton said on Friday’s episode of Swisher’s podcast.
Trump’s controversial attempts to renovate the White House and “beautify” the nation’s capital include the razing of the East Wing and the rushed resurfacing of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, whose deterioration he blamed on “vandals.”
Even Trump’s Justice Department has acknowledged “flawed installation” by the contractor Trump hired to resurface the pool. Clinton said it’s “just another example of the absurd world in which we are living that you’ve got the president of the United States obsessing over a failed pool job.”
“I mean, honestly, the guy is so out of it right now, unhinged, obsessed and focused on all the wrong things, you know,” she added. “Maybe we should be happy he’s messing around with the Reflecting Pool … not starting another war somewhere else.”
Trump has also proposed a 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery, which Clinton called a “terrible idea.”
Regarding Trump’s proposed White House ballroom, Clinton told Swisher: “I’m not against the idea of a ballroom. I’m against this ballroom. I’m against the process that, well — the fact there was no process that created this, you know, carbuncle on the side of the White House, which I think is so unfortunate-looking.”
Inside the White House, the president has bedecked nearly every surface of the Oval Office with golden decor.
“It’s sad that it’s so tackyed up,” Clinton said. “It’s a reflection of, you know, his narcissistic personality and his need to feel important, including sticking gold embellishments all over the walls of the Oval Office.”
In another swipe at the president, she added: “This is a man who can’t concentrate. This is a man whose mind apparently goes to, ‘Where can I add more gold?’ instead of ‘How do I get out of Iran without looking like the loser that I am?’ ‘How do I begin to, you know, deal with AI, which is a serious threat to our security, our labor force and so much else?’”
“His mind is about, ‘What are these things that reflect my need to appear important?’ and so, that’s what he spends his time on,” Clinton said.