Trump Ballroom Suddenly Faces GOP Opposition in Surprise Blow to MAGA

But the Post poll suggests that the ballroom has proven to be one of those things that breaks through to lower-information voters in unpredictable ways. If it’s true, as Derek Thompson says, that the smartphone is imperceptibly, indelibly transforming our politics, the ballroom might illustrate the point: With those dramatic and shareable images of Trump’s White House East Wing demolition, this saga has unexpectedly captured something larger than itself.

In fact, the deeper subtexts of the ballroom tale—the corruption, the megalomania, the careless Gatsby-esque destructiveness, the Trumpian imperium—are surely a key reason it has broken through. It’s creating the type of meaningful moment in our politics that offers surprising political openings to the opposition.

There’s been some talk about what Democrats running for 2028 should propose to do with the ballroom once Trump moves on. Here’s an idea: Pledge to convert it into a monument to American democracy—and all the struggles that have been fought on its behalf. For good measure, let’s throw in an exhibit about January 6. That’s just one thought—if you don’t like it, come up with another one. Democrats: If even Republicans are now running from the ballroom, surely it signals an opening for the ambitious among you to get very creative in response.