Trump roasts other presidents during children’s book reading

What the proof shows

Reporting and the video/transcript confirm President Trump said, while viewing an illustration of John Quincy Adams in the old Tiber Creek, “I think we’re building a beautiful ballroom on top of it.” Independent reporting and court filings confirm the administration demolished the East Wing and is building a large ballroom on that White House site. Historical maps and National Park Service records show the historic Tiber Creek ran through what is now President’s Park/White House grounds (and that a Tiber Creek sewer archaeological site lies within President’s Park South). However, I found no authoritative source that overlays the ballroom’s precise footprint and the exact historic Tiber Creek channel to prove a one-to-one, incontrovertible match. In short: Trump did make the remark linking the ballroom to Tiber Creek and the ballroom replaces the East Wing on White House grounds where Tiber Creek once ran nearby/through President’s Park — but the claim as stated (that the ballroom replacement is being constructed specifically “on the site of the former Tiber Creek creekbed”) omits geographic nuance and needs a precise map/archaeological overlay to be confirmed.