WHITE HOUSE WAR OF WORDS: Trump Fires Back At Obama Over Cracked Plaster Claims

President Trump has hit back at Barack Obama in a fresh clash over the White House makeover, saying the building is a symbol of America and has to be maintained properly. In the clip, he says the work was about fixing cracked plaster, broken ornaments and peeling paint that he claims were neglected before. He argues the changes cost little but took a lot of vision, and that "guys like Obama don't see it," meaning the dirt, filth and decay he says he found. Trump presents all of it as essential preservation rather than extravagance.

The exchange follows Obama's recent rally remarks criticizing the renovations, including the gold decor, a larger ballroom, the paved-over Rose Garden and a new South Lawn helipad. Obama joked that the result looked like "Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory" and suggested the project distracts from real policy work. With the midterms approaching, the argument has quickly turned political, with supporters calling it long-overdue restoration and critics calling it showy excess. Many questions remain, including how bad the building's condition actually was, how much the changes cost and who is paying. Trump's claims about the state of the building come from his own remarks and have not been independently verified here.