Trump Gets Distracted By His New Ballroom In The Middle Of Speech About Iran War In Surreal Video

President Donald Trump was criticized after he pivoted to talk about the new White House ballroom while in the middle of talking about his new war in Iran at a Medal of Honor ceremony.

The war against Iran is already spreading beyond its initial battlefield. Iranian reprisals have struck Gulf states hosting U.S. bases—including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia—while Hezbollah has entered the fight, firing rockets into Israel and ending a month-long ceasefire.

Hegseth earlier said the mission is to destroy Iran’s missiles, production capacity, navy and security infrastructure and ensure it never develops nuclear weapons. But what comes after those goals are met remains unclear. Trump has urged Iranians to revolt, even as the regime reshuffles leadership following the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

All of this is gravely serious—but Trump just couldn't resist mouthing off about his favorite pet project when, seconds before, he'd been discussing how the U.S. plans to "carry out large-scale combat operations in Iran to eliminate the great threats posed to America by this terrible terrorist regime."

Several months ago, Trump ordered the demolition of the entire East Wing to make way for a 90,000 square-foot ballroom that will dwarf the size of the White House itself, sparking alarm from historical preservationists and the public alike.

Construction started during last year's government shutdown—at the same time that the Trump administration announced that families would not receive SNAP benefits as scheduled. The administration also refused to release contingency funds that would ensure families that rely on these payments don't go hungry.

Trump said:

“We have a lot of great service members here with us in this beautiful building. Isn’t it beautiful? We are adding on to that building a little bit. We are improving the building."

"See that nice drape? When it comes down, you see a very deep hole. In about a year-and-a-half from now, you’re going to see a very, very beautiful building. There is your entrance to it right there. In fact, it looks so nice, I think I’ll save money on the doors. Because you can’t get more beautiful than that."

"I picked those drapes in my first term. I always liked gold! But I think we can save a lot of money. I just saved curtains. It will be spectacular. The most beautiful—I believe because I have built many a ballroom."

"It will be the most beautiful ballroom anywhere in the world. When you hear all that hammering out there, you will know why the first lady is not thrilled, exactly. She said, will the pile drivers ever stop? They go from 6:00 in the morning until 11:30 in the evening. Can you imagine here?"

"To me, that is a beautiful sound. She doesn’t like it. I love it. To me, other than here, because we are donating it, not a penny to the taxpayer. It will be under budget, ahead of schedule. It will be $400 million or less. Most people say $400 million or more. No, it will be less."

"But, when I hear that sound, that beautiful sound behind me, it means money, so I like it. But my wife isn’t thrilled. She said, “This is getting crazy.” I said, “Don’t worry about it. We will be all finished up in a few months.”

Trump, after going on and on about the ballroom, then decided to return to "the reason that we are gathered this morning, to recognize the unsurpassed courage of three really incredible American heroes, one living and two no longer with us.”

You can hear what he said in the video below.

People were not impressed.

Unsurprisingly, this isn't the first time Trump has been distracted by his new ballroom when he should have been focused on something else.

Back in January, he was widely mocked after footage from a meeting at the White House about energy policy showed how he suddenly got up to admire the renovations on his new ballroom through a window.

Trump got up during a meeting with oil industry executives, including leaders from Chevron and Exxon, as part of an effort to secure billions of dollars in new investments in Venezuela’s oil sector. He exclaimed, "Wow! Look at that view," commenting that "this is the door to the ballroom."

He was also caught on camera during that same meeting reading out loud a private note Secretary of State Marco Rubio attempted to pass him directing Trump to speak to Chevron's executives.