Donald Trump and Barack Obama have clashed over renovations to the White House, with Mr Trump saying his predecessor “wouldn’t understand” the need to keep the building in pristine condition.
Speaking at a campaign stop in Mississippi, Mr Trump defended the work carried out during his presidency and said the White House “represents our country, and has to be pristine”.
“I would try and explain that to a guy like Obama, but he wouldn’t understand,” he said. “He doesn’t understand the White House has to be clean, pristine, beautiful. It can’t have cracks in the column.”
Mr Obama had mocked the changes at a rally in Michigan for Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. He referred to the construction of a large ballroom, a new helipad on the South Lawn and changes to the building’s decoration.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he seems very focused on home renovations,” Mr Obama said. “He should be on HGTV. Guy’s building a ballroom that’s bigger than the White House. He’s paved over the Rose Garden. He’s put a helicopter pad on the South Lawn. And there’s gold everywhere — what’s up with the gold? Everything, more gold.”
He concluded: “He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.” The remarks were applauded by many Democrats, while conservatives criticised them as out of touch.
Mr Trump returned to the comments several times at Monday’s rally, describing the cost of the renovations as “peanuts” and saying the White House was “now in better shape than it was in 1792”.
“He said, this isn’t a Cheesecake Factory,” Mr Trump said. “Can you believe it? Which is a very successful company. He doesn’t like successful companies.”
He also said the building had been in “horrible condition” when he took over and defended the time spent on its refurbishment.
Both men are campaigning in battleground states in the final days before Election Day, although Mr Trump has also made trips to deeply Republican areas, including Mississippi.
