Ever since Donald Trump took office for the second time, there have been a lot of little face lifts happening in the White House. Or, I guess it would be more accurate to say face lifts are happening to the White House.
Eric Lee / Getty Images
The East Wing of the white house has been demolished, in the wake of construction for a ballroom that Trump wants to build.
Alex Wong / Getty Images
This construction project has been super controversial, due to the timing and the belief that this erasure of history is indicative of much larger issues from this administration.
But it seems that the Trump administration has come to defend their own honor, and they’re doing it with their version of a history lesson. They’ve added a “major events” timeline under the “about the White House” section on the official website.
Daniel Slim / Getty Images
The timeline starts with George Washington’s selection of the iconic structure’s site in 1791. It ends with the current East Wing renovations, which is referred to as an upgrade to the original structure.
But, that’s not all that’s included. The timeline of major events also includes what is referred to as the “Bill Clinton Scandal.”
“President Bill Clinton’s affair with intern Monica Lewinsky was exposed, leading to White House perjury investigations. The Oval Office trysts fueled impeachment for obstruction,” the website reads.
This event refers to when Bill Clinton became the second of three US presidents to ever be impeached. The other two impeached US presidents were Andrew Johnson and Trump, who was impeached twice. Notably, the timeline does not include Trump’s impeachments.
Paul J. Richards / Getty Images
Clinton was impeached for perjury (lying under oath) and obstruction of justice, following allegations that he engaged in a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky, who was a 21-year-old unpaid intern for White House Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta. He was acquitted on both counts as neither received the two-thirds majority vote required for conviction and removal from office.
Trump was impeached for the first time at the end of 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. These first impeachment charges were brought after a whistleblower claimed that Trump threatened to withhold aid money to Ukraine if President Volodymyr Zelensky didn’t investigate Hunter Biden’s alleged “suspicious” dealings.
Trump was impeached for the second time right before his first term ended, on January 13, 2021. This time, the House of Representatives impeached him with “incitement of insurrection” for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol — an event that is also left off of the White House’s official “major events.” Trump was acquitted in both of his impeachment trials.
The next event on the timeline is the “Muslim Brotherhood Visit.”
“Obama hosts members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that promotes Islamist extremism and has ties to Hamas. The Muslim Brotherhood is a designated terrorist organization by nearly a dozen nations,” the website states.
This event pictured did not happen in the White House, as the timeline suggests. This photo of former president Barack Obama in traditional Somali dress is from 2006. At the time, Obama was a senator and visiting Kenya, where his father is from.
Alex Wong / Getty Images
White House officials did meet with the Muslim Brotherhood in 2012, following the Egyptian Revolution. However, this was not specific to the Obama administration. Previous administrations met with the Muslim Brotherhood as well, as part of diplomatic outreach.
The timeline jumps forward to 2020, almost entirely skipping over Trump’s first term in office. The next “major event” shown is the Trump administration’s unveiling a privately funded tennis court for “enhancing recreational opportunities for First Families.”
Nicholas Kamm / Getty Images
“In 2020, First Lady Melania Trump oversaw the privately funded construction of a 1,200-square-foot tennis pavilion on the South Lawn, featuring a neo-classical design with a copper roof and limestone cladding,” the website says.
The next event refers to when cocaine was discovered in 2023 in the White House’s West Wing.
Brendan Smialowski / Getty Images
“During Biden’s administration, a US Secret Service agent discovered a small, zippered plastic bag containing cocaine in the West Wing entrance lobby,” the website reads. The caption, paired with a photo of Hunter Biden seemingly smoking in a bathtub, then baselessly speculates that the drugs were his.
After an official FBI investigation, the Secret Service concluded that they could not conclusively name who the bag of cocaine belonged to. Trump himself has pedaled the theory that the cocaine belonged to Hunter or then-president Joe Biden. Hunter, who previously addressed his past struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, has fervently denied these allegations, claiming that he hasn’t touched drugs since becoming sober in 2019.
Bloomberg / Getty Images
The final pre-Trump 2.0 event included in this timeline is Trans Day of Visibility.
Nurphoto / Getty Images
“The Biden/Harris administration hosts transexuals at the White House in 2023, and goes on to establish the ‘The Transgender Day of Visibility’ on the same day as Easter Sunday in 2024,” the website reads.
Trans Day of Visibility was founded by Rachel Crandall-Crocker, a trans-rights activist, who established this day of celebration for the trans community in 2010. President Biden officially proclaimed March 31, 2021 as Transgender Day of Visibility. Easter was not on the same day as the website suggests. In 2021, Easter was celebrated on April 4. Additionally, people have noticed that the White House uses a misspelled version of the term “transsexuals,” which is an outdated term.
Naturally, people have a lot of thoughts on this new section of the White House website. One tweet says: “The Trump White House is unhinged. Cannot believe this is real life on the official site.”
“The White House has revamped its website to defend the destruction of the East Wing. And they’ve done it exactly the way you’d expect,” one person tweeted.
One person tweeted: “Holy shit. I thought that was a joke. That is really on the White House website’s official timeline. 200 years of legitimate history in the first ten slides, the the last twenty years in nine completely partisan slides with four being full-on trolls. Absolutely disgraceful.”
Sometimes, it’s good for my mental health to see stuff like this cross my timeline right when I open Twitter. At the very least, it helps me cut down on screen time because I have no choice but to close the app and put my head in my hands. What do you think about this new section on the White House’s website?
Also in In the News: JD Vance’s Most Recent “Joke” About His Wife’s Role As Second Lady Is Going Viral Because People Think It’s “Straight Up Creepy”
Also in In the News: “This Is Not The Desk Of Someone Who Actually Does Work”: 49 Political Tweets From The Last Month That Are Too Good Not To Share
Also in In the News: 5 Absolutely Horrifying Ways Republicans Are Explaining Why They’re Fine With People Losing Healthcare
