Joy Reid calls for Mar-a-Lago to become 'Black LGBTQ Museum' in response to Trump's White House demolition
– 2 min read
In a fiery critique of President Donald Trump’s controversial demolition of the White House’s East Wing, former MSNBC anchor Joy Reid has proposed a radical transformation of Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago - suggesting it be repurposed as a museum dedicated to Black, LGBTQ, women’s, AAPI, and immigrant history.
Reid’s comments, made in a post on the social platform Bluesky, were part of a broader condemnation of Trump’s recent decision to raze the East Wing to make way for a privately funded $350million ballroom. “I pray that a future president, if we still have a democracy, will erase every trace of Trump's existence,” Reid wrote. “Raze every edifice he's built; strip his name from everything, restore the White House as if he never lived there & turn Mar-a-Lago into a Black, LGBTQ, women's, AAPI & immigrant history museum.”
I pray that a future president if we still have a democracy will erase every trace of Trump's existence. Raze every edifice he's built; strip his name from everything, restore the White House as if he never lived there & turn Mar-a-Lago into a Black, LGBTQ, women's, AAPI & immigrant history museum.
— Joy-Ann Reid (@joyannreid.bsky.social) 2025-10-23T03:00:55.262Z
The remarks have sparked intense debate across social media and political circles, with supporters praising the symbolic gesture and critics accusing Reid of promoting divisive rhetoric.
Reid elaborated on her stance during a conversation with former GOP strategist Steve Schmidt, describing Trump as “not an American president” and likening the East Wing’s destruction to a metaphor for the erosion of democratic norms. “The destruction of the East Wing is a metaphor for what this man, this venal character, has promised to do to the American experiment and is doing to it,” she said.
The Trump administration has defended the demolition, stating that the new ballroom is being funded entirely by private donors, including major corporations such as Lockheed Martin, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman. Trump himself has maintained that no taxpayer money is being used, despite widespread speculation and criticism from public figures including Reid and Whoopi Goldberg.
Reid also took to TikTok to voice her outrage, questioning the priorities of federal spending amid a government shutdown. “We have money for this? Make this make sense,” she said, referring to the ballroom construction. “Is that what you voted for? Because if this is ‘Make America Great Again’, we need to stop making America great again - I am exhausted.”
