California Governor Gavin Newsom criticized White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and the GOP at large after she claimed to have been "horrified" by the toilet in the Lincoln bathroom before President Donald Trump's marble renovation.
Trump shared an update about ongoing renovations aboard Air Force One while en route to Florida for the weekend, even as the federal government remains shut down and his administration continues to refuse to release all of the emergency funds to sustain SNAP food assistance benefits through November.
His post comes after he dismissed all members of the Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency that advises on “matters of design and aesthetics” affecting the president, Congress, and the District of Columbia. He has also appointed loyalists to the National Capital Planning Commission, which will oversee approval of plans for a new ballroom on White House grounds.
He wrote the following in a post that also showed that the former Art Deco bathroom had been revamped in white marble from floor to ceiling:
“I renovated the Lincoln Bathroom in the White House. It was renovated in the 1940s in an art deco green tile style, which was totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era."
"I did it in black and white polished Statuary marble. This was very appropriate for the time of Abraham Lincoln and, in fact, could be the marble that was originally there!”
You can see Trump's post below.
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
Leavitt later shared Trump's post and commented:
"When I first learned a toilet like that existed inside the White House, I was horrified. President Trump is making the People’s House more elegant and beautiful for generations of Americans to come!"
You can see her post below.
In came Newsom with this cutting observation:
"Letting Americans starve doesn’t horrify them. Letting healthcare costs triple doesn’t horrify them. Letting our troops go unpaid doesn’t horrify them. A toilet does."
Many echoed Newsom's criticisms.
Following legal action brought by states, the Trump administration said it will resume payments for SNAP, but beneficiaries will receive only half their usual amount.
Officials plan to draw from a $4.65 billion contingency fund at the Agriculture Department—roughly half the $8 billion needed each month to fully fund the program.
In a court filing, the administration acknowledged that exhausting the fund would leave “no funds... for new SNAP applicants certified in November, disaster assistance, or as a cushion against the potential catastrophic consequences of shutting down SNAP entirely.”
Officials also cautioned that there could be significant delays before families relying on SNAP see any of the reduced benefits.
