The demolition of the White House East Wing? ASBESTOS!!!

[thewayne]

Renovations in the early 1900s and 1940s probably introduced a large amount of asbestos insulation in the walls and around the plumbing in the building, which means any renovation or demolition of the building needed to have a thorough inspection and abatement plan in place before any work or demolition could be done.

And we all know that didn't happen. There's no way in hell that with the speed in which that building came down that any sort of plan or abatement could have been done. Which means all of the construction workers, White House workers, Secret Service, WH security, press, visitors, protestors, anyone walking near the area - all have been potentially exposed to asbestos.

Also, when asbestos is removed from building renovations, it has to be specially packaged for disposal, including the special handling outerwear that the workers wear. Which means the landfill that the East Wing now occupies is now a haz mat dump and probably thoroughly contaminated with free-floating asbestos. Every time more rubble gets dumped on top of the East Wing debris, the physical impact hitting the lower layers of WH debris is stirring things up and more asbestos gets pumped into the air.

https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/10/trumps-swift-demolition-of-east-wing-may-have-launched-asbestos-plumes/


Oh - and another thing? #47 also just disbanded the commission in charge of regulating and approving changes to historic buildings and monuments throughout the DC area, which would have been in charge of any renovations to the White House East Wing.

Comments

[elayna]

He is such a total dickhead who cares about nothing except his own ego and gratification.

[thewayne]

And wallet, but that falls in the category of gratification.

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm not surprised that that dodo is too stupid to avoid shitting in his own nest. It's sad that he has likely injured many other people in the process. But think of him breathing White House air for about 3 more years.

Of course, if the next occupant has any brains, they will demand a safety check of the building before entering, and it is rather likely to be deemed uninhabitable. That could get awkward.

[arlie]

IIRC, asbestos causes primarily long term harm, so Trump's too old to care. Unlike most white house employees, and the folks doing the construction work.

[thewayne]

It's not just that he's too old to care, he's too stupid to care and doesn't care about anyone else.  He also, sadly, seems to be one of those people with an iron constitution.

[bibliofile]

Don't forget that the rubble was dumped at an area golf course, to be used to make hills or something. Spreading around the asbestos love, ugh.

[thewayne]

I did not know that. sigh

[ndrosen]

He thinks that his gut feelings about tariffs, asbestos, the Central Park Five, or almost anything else are better than somebody else’s facts or informed opinions. You can’t expect him to obey safety regulations unless maybe it’s his own safety at stake.

[thewayne]

If there's one thing he's very good at overestimating, it's his intelligence and knowledge.

[silveradept]

I know that the occupant of the White House has no conception of "Regulations are written in blood," because he's more than happy to spill other people's blood for his own gratification, but I can imagine some estate or later government getting properly sued and found liable to pay the treatment and other costs of the workers exposed to asbestos in this action. And anyone else who can demonstrate they were affected by it.

[thewayne]

And he's gotten a ruling from SCOTUS that he's immune from prosecution.

[silveradept]

Yes, there's that, too, although I'm sure that can also be managed over time. Hopefully in a time frame where all his problems finally catch up to him.

[disneydream06]

Color me shocked. NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope that Press Sec. spends every waking minute at the White House. :o :o :o
Hugs, Jon

[thewayne]

Doing live feeds from the foundation/ruins of the East Wing. ;-)

[disneydream06]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!