Philadelphia’s District Attorney, Larry Krasner, strongly criticized President Donald Trump on Tuesday.He said that Trump’s White House ballroom will eventually be torn down, but a memorial in Philadelphia that tells the story of slavery will last forever.
Krasner spoke at the 24th annual Slavery Commiseration at the site of the former President’s House in Old City.
He called Trump a “pain in the [expletive]” and said Trump is an “embodiment of hate, ignorance, and someone who takes away people’s votes and education.”
The event marks the first documented arrival of enslaved Africans in the English colonies in August 1619.
This year’s event came after a big argument over exhibits that showed the lives of nine people who were enslaved by George Washington while he lived in Philadelphia during the 1790s.
Krasner said the memorial and its educational materials will still be around long after Trump and the White House ballroom are gone.
“In about 10 to 15 years, we are all going to be sitting here with smiles on our faces,” Krasner said.
“And I’m going to have a paperweight sitting on my desk.And do you know what that paperweight’s going to be?It’s going to be a piece of the ballroom after we blow it up.”
He said the demolition will happen during an “official ceremony,” and parts of the ballroom will be sold as paperweights to pay back taxes.
“And I will have one on my desk,” he said.
The White House defended the ballroom, saying it is a necessary renovation to improve the executive mansion before the country’s 250th anniversary.
A Secret Service spokesperson said the agency looks into statements that could be seen as threats, but they would not talk about protective intelligence.
The National Park Service removed slavery panels from the President’s House in January under a 2025 executive order that told federal historic sites to change displays that the administration thought were negative about the country’s founders.
Philadelphia sued the Interior Department and Park Service, and a federal judge ordered the exhibit to be put back in February.
In June, a federal appeals court ruled that Philadelphia didn’t have the legal power to control exhibits at the site, which is owned by the federal government.
Park workers put up new panels on July 14 that still mention slavery and the nine people enslaved by Washington, but focus more on his presidency and his feelings about slavery.
Philadelphia has asked the full 3rd U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals to review the decision.That request is still waiting, and the new panels are still up.
Trump’s 90,000-square-foot ballroom is being built on the old site of the White House East Wing.
Officials say the project will cost about $400 million and that construction is 65% done.
A lower court ruled that Trump went beyond his power by tearing down the East Wing and starting construction without Congress’s approval.
Chief Justice John Roberts issued a temporary order Friday, letting construction continue while the Supreme Court considers the appeal.
About the Author
