Former president Joe Biden tore into Donald Trump, accusing his successor of defacing the White House with a $300 million vanity project.
The 82-year-old Democrat was speaking at the Nebraska Democratic Party's Ben Nelson Gala on Friday night when he went after Trump's new ballroom.
Biden said: 'Anyone seen what he's done to the East Wing of the People's House?' Biden asked, his voice rising over roars from the audience.
'It's a perfect symbol of his presidency. Trump is taking a wrecking ball not only to the People's House but to the Constitution, to the rule of law, to our very democracy. Who in the hell does he think he is?'
The speech marked a joyful but defiant comeback for Biden who has been undergoing treatment for an aggressive form of prostate cancer but showed flashes of his old energy and righteous anger.
Though his voice occasionally faltered, the crowd was on its feet throughout the 30-minute address, cheering as he spoke about repairing America's divisions and defending democratic norms.
'What we have to do is repair our faults, and that's what we began to do on Tuesday,' he shouted, referencing this week's Democratic victories in key races across the country.
It was Biden's second public appearance in a week, and his first purely political event since Labor Day 2024, when he appeared alongside then Vice President Kamala Harris at a union rally in Pittsburgh, two months before the presidential election that saw Trump reclaim the Oval Office.
Friday's rally, however, was not about Biden's own comeback bid but about rallying his party's base.
Biden's remarks came amid a growing furor over Trump's decision to demolish the entire East Wing of the White House, a move that shocked historians, preservationists, and political opponents alike.
The Republican president has long insisted the 1,000-seat ballroom is necessary for large state dinners and events that currently require temporary tents on the South Lawn.
But the destruction of the East Wing, which housed offices for First Ladies, a family theater, and Jacqueline Kennedy's memorial garden, has been condemned as a symbol of excess and disregard for tradition.
The public learned of the project on October 20, when photos of construction crews ripping into the building began circulating online.
Within days, the East Wing was reduced to rubble including the covered walkway and historic garden.
Trump, a billionaire real-estate developer before entering politics, defended the move as part of his vision to 'modernize' the Executive Mansion.
He said he had decided, after consulting with architects, that 'really knocking it down' was preferable to a partial renovation.
'It won't interfere with the current building,' Trump insisted in July. 'It'll be near it but not touching it.'
By October, he changed course. 'Really knocking it down,' he said Wednesday, was 'the better option.'
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later confirmed that the ballroom's cost had ballooned from $200 million to $300 million, but claimed taxpayers would not be paying for it.
