In 2011, at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, President Barack Obama looked straight into the cameras and delivered one of his most famous punchlines.
“Say what you will about Mr. Trump”,” he said, via the Obama White House archives, pausing as the audience laughed. “He certainly would bring some change to the White House,” he added.
The joke landed. On the giant screen behind him appeared a doctored image of the White House, complete with the words “Trump White House Resort & Casino” and miniature golf greens on the South Lawn.
Obama grinned as the room roared.
https://x.com/ByBrianBennett/status/858378591343652864
Fourteen years later, that line feels prophetic.
According to Dezeen, President Donald Trump is now overseeing extensive renovations at the White House, including a new East Wing neoclassical ballroom, per Dezeen. The $300 million project aims to accommodate larger diplomatic events and official gatherings.
Trump has described the ballroom as “the most beautiful ballroom anywhere in the world.” Numbe 45 also pointed out that the renovation comes after a “tremendous amount of study with some of the best architects in the world”, per the BBC.
Dezeen shares that the new addition’s style will generally match the White House’s. Robert Adam, a British architect, said, “No doubt some will associate the greater detail of the Corinthian order with the Trumpian bling, as much as the white and gold interior,” he said.
For those that don’t know, Trump seems to favor a golden gilded look. The Guardian revealed some photos of the added bling. However, every president has changed the Oval Office to suit their own tastes. Trump is no exception and has made the office a space that he is comfortable in.
It seems as though Obama’s joke had some predictive value. Trump has indeed brought some changes to the White House, and even added on a new wing to boot.
While some supporters have praised the redesign as the additional space is needed, preservation groups have criticized how some of the building was demolished, per CNN.
Still, the similarities between Obama’s satirical 2011 image and today’s reality have not gone unnoticed online. While not visually similar, the fact that Obama was so eerily accurate about a future Trump changing the White House is startling. He’s putting his own stamp on a historical building even though he denies wanting to name it after himself, per ABC News.
THE FINEST BALLROOM EVER BUILT!
“We’re doing it NO COST to the country… in order to do it properly, we had to take down the existing structure.” – President Trump 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/5puxoB2HZS
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 23, 2025
But, Trump isn’t the only president that renovated the White House. Obama himself also updated the residence. According to Al Jazeera, Obama’s White House updates were focused on sustainability and accessibility, updating underground utilities that were past their expiration date.
Bob Peck, who at the time was commissioner of the US General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service, stated, “It doesn’t do a whole lot of good to have a building that’s the sort of the image of the free world standing up there and not functioning well.”
Obama hasn’t commented publicly on Trump’s latest remodel. But the 2011 quip, complete with that Photoshopped golf course, is making the social media round. Back then, it was a roast. Today, it reads more like a headline.
