Barack Obama Says Donald Trump Is Focused on Renovations, Not Lower Prices

Former President Barack Obama said President Donald Trump cares more about remodeling the White House than about what Americans pay for things. He went through the ballroom, the Rose Garden and the gold décor and closed with: "So he's clearly not focused on lowering prices for you."

Obama never said Trump's name in the clip. He called him "this guy in the White House."

Obama Ties White House Renovations to Prices

Obama started with Trump's record on his promises. "Things have not worked out the way we might have expected, although I must say I did expect it," he said. Then he asked the crowd: "Does anybody really think this guy in the White House right now is spending all that time thinking about these issues?"

His answer was that Trump "seems very focused on home renovations."

"He should be on HGTV," Obama said, ticking off a ballroom "that's bigger than the White House," a paved-over Rose Garden, and the fact that "there's gold everywhere."

Obama compared the gilded rooms to Saddam Hussein opening a Cheesecake Factory. Saddam was the Iraqi dictator removed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and executed in 2006. Obama followed it with "Just gold everywhere" before getting to prices.

What the Renovations Actually Involve

Trump has added extensive gold detailing to the Oval Office.

The ballroom is the largest project. It replaces the demolished East Wing and is planned as a 90,000-square-foot structure. The ballroom was priced at $200 million when announced in July 2025. By March 2026, the estimate had doubled to $400 million, FactCheck.org reported. Trump has said it would cost "not one dime of government money."

The White House maintains that "the Ballroom will still be paid for with the private funds raised" and that federal money covers only security features. On priorities, spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told NBC News in June that "President Trump remains laser-focused on lowering costs for working families" and on "the long-overdue beautification of our nation's capital." Inflation had hit 4.2 percent in May, the highest in three years, NBC News reported.

The White House's "private funds" statement came in response to questions about a $1 billion federal security-funding proposal tied to the project. Critics pointed to that proposal in questioning Trump's pledge that taxpayers would pay "not one dime," while the White House said the money would cover security features, not the ballroom itself. Senate Republicans later removed the $1 billion from the legislation, FactCheck.org reported in a June 10 update.

Inflation and Trump's Polling on Prices

Inflation has risen since Trump took office, from a rate he inherited from Joe Biden's administration. Consumer prices rose 3.0 percent in the 12 months ending January 2025, the month he took office. In September 2026, the annual rate stood at 3.7 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Gasoline was up 34.2 percent over the year, while grocery prices rose 1.8 percent and shelter costs 3.2 percent.

The national average for regular gas stands at $4.28 a gallon on PolitiKool's gas price tracker.

Voters have noticed. Trump's approval on the economy is 29.5 percent, with 67.8 percent disapproving, in PolitiKool's polling average. His overall approval is 37.6 percent in PolitiKool's polling average.

A recent Fox News poll is starker. The survey, conducted October 9-12, put Trump's approval on inflation at 22 percent. Six in 10 voters in that poll named the cost of living as their top economic worry.