BS BULLETIN:
- Former Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb unloaded on President Trump’s renovations Monday night, saying the White House is becoming a combination of a “whorehouse and Las Vegas.”
- Cobb made the remark on CNN hours after the Supreme Court handed Trump a major victory, allowing construction of his new White House ballroom to continue.
- The Court’s 5-4 ruling focused on whether the group challenging the project had legal standing — not whether Trump’s ballroom project itself is lawful.
Apparently “I don’t like the renovations” wasn’t colorful enough.
Former Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb reached for considerably more vivid language Monday night while discussing President Trump’s changes to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
During an appearance on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront,” Cobb was asked about the Supreme Court’s decision allowing construction of Trump’s massive new White House ballroom to move forward.
Cobb, who served in Trump’s first administration, began by reminiscing about the White House he remembered.
Then came the architectural review nobody asked for.
Cobb said the historic building is turning into “some combination of a whorehouse and Las Vegas,” complaining about Trump’s fondness for gold and calling what is happening “tragic.”
The outburst followed a significant legal victory for Trump earlier Monday.
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court cleared the way for construction on Trump’s 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom to continue. The majority did not decide whether the project itself is legal. Instead, the justices concluded that the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which challenged the project, likely lacks standing to bring the case.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined the Court’s three liberal justices in dissent and argued that the project was “likely unlawful.”
Roberts also waxed considerably more poetically than Cobb about the building, describing the White House as an American icon whose history and symbolism are intertwined with its architecture.
CNN’s Erin Burnett brought that portion of Roberts’ dissent to Cobb’s attention.
That’s when Cobb went from constitutional analysis to Yelp review.
Trump has made no secret of his enthusiasm for putting his stamp on the White House, from extensive gold accents inside the Oval Office to the ballroom project that has become one of the most dramatic physical changes to the complex in generations.
Critics can argue about the taste.
Comparing the people’s house to a brothel, however, is a rather interesting way for a former White House lawyer to demonstrate his reverence for the place.
MY QUICK TAKE
Nothing screams “respect for the dignity and history of the White House” quite like going on national television and calling it a whorehouse.
Cobb is entitled to hate Trump’s decorating taste. He can hate the gold, the ballroom and every last gilded flourish.
But Trump just won the immediate courtroom fight, construction is moving forward, and somehow the former White House lawyer managed to make himself the tawdriest part of the story.
DBS WIRE SOURCES
- Mediaite — Former Trump White House Lawyer Says President Is Turning the Building Into a ‘Whorehouse’
- CNN — Erin Burnett OutFront — August 31, 2026
- SCOTUSblog — Supreme Court allows construction on White House ballroom to continue
- CBS News — Supreme Court continues to allow construction of Trump’s White House ballroom
- Los Angeles Times — Supreme Court, in 5-4 vote, clears way for Trump’s new ballroom
