In the basement of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, just across from the West Wing on the White House complex, there’s a small bowling alley that has been around for several decades. During the Obama administration, officials decided it needed some meaningful repairs.
In fact, around this time 12 years ago, the General Services Administration concluded it had been several years since the lanes in the small bowling alley had had “any professional, industry standard maintenance, modifications, repairs or attention.” The GSA agreed it was time for an overhaul.
Republicans vociferously disagreed, characterizing the project as wasteful government spending, and the Democratic administration quickly reversed course, canceling the renovations.
You can probably guess where this story is going. Politico reported:
On July 28, the General Services Administration, under the auspices of the Executive Office of the President, awarded a nearly $253,000 contract for lighting work on the two-lane Harry S. Truman Bowling Alley, according to public contract awards reviewed by West Wing Playbook. And on Aug. 18, GSA awarded another contract to the same contractor, Charles Mann Enterprises, for $8,800 in escort services — essentially accompanying outside workers through secure areas — tied to the bowling alley project.
The White House and GSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In isolation, this might seem an easy story to overlook, Republicans’ Obama-era hypocrisy notwithstanding. But there’s a larger context to this.
President Donald Trump has spent much of his second term obsessing over a laundry list of pet projects, including (but by no means limited to) the ballroom, the Reflecting Pool, the “triumphal arch,” the fountains, the horse statues, the “Trump Promenade,” the helipad, the “statue garden” and the dozen or so additional renovation projects he’s prioritized in and around the White House complex.
Focusing exclusively on White House projects, The Washington Post reported a few weeks ago that the Republican administration plans to spend “at least $900 million for construction projects” in and around the presidential mansion. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the president’s 2016 rival, noted via Bluesky, “While Americans struggle to afford groceries, Trump is spending taxpayer money on the worst HGTV show ever.”
This and related mockery, however, apparently hasn’t deterred the incumbent president. On the heels of Trump investing quite a bit of time and effort into the granite walkway outside the Oval Office, he recently shifted focus to the renovation of the columns outside the White House’s North Portico.
This set the stage for the president hosting an impromptu tour of the White House complex two weeks ago, talking to reporters about the state of his various renovations.
This included the public’s first look at the White House’s new stone helipad, when Trump took the opportunity to assure the public, “I’m very good at flagpoles.”
With just nine weeks remaining before the midterm elections, Team Trump decided to add renovations to the White House bowling alley to his already long list.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
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