(Author’s Note: The gold lettering partially obscured by the title states TRUMP’S #1 CHOICE FOR DESTROYING AMERICAN HISTORY AND LANDMARKS. My apologies for a title that obscures that part of the image but changing, in this case shortening a title after something has been posted is no small thing)
I’ll try to make this short. With the destruction of the historic East Wing of our White House now complete I heard a pundit ask a question that’s been on my mind. Perhaps yours too, along with millions and even tens of millions of Americans: What do the workers ripping down the East Wing feel about what they’re doing? Do they care? Is it just another paycheck? I’d already wondered why no one was talking about the CONTRACTOR who agreed to do the work. Perhaps I missed it but thinking back it seems like news outlets went out of their way to AVOID saying who was so greedy and money grubbing to take on the filthy work of destroying a piece of American History. It was ACECO Demolition out of Silver Spring Maryland.
Again, perhaps I missed it but I saw it being talked about on TV, and read some articles from big publications like the WSJ, NYT and WaPo. At first only a handful of pictures were shown but as last week progressed we saw more, and uglier ones. Bits of video too. Trumpty tried to hide what was happening until it was too late and it worked. Remember the news on that first day? The talk from the WH which news stenographers journalists and outlets dutifully repeated was that only a portion of the East Wing would be torn down for Trump’s vanity project/ballroom.
Much as I wanted to believe that internally I called bullshit from the time the news broke with that LIE. News outlets pointed out originally Trumpty had said the East Wing ‘wouldn’t be touched’, but now it was ‘we have to remove/rework’ ‘just a little of it’ and in my grief I’m still stunned journalists weren’t SHOUTING, HOWLING to high heaven with questions. Trump lies as easily as he breathes and you’ll never convince me that every single journalist and news outlet owner didn’t think the same thing I did – that only minimal destruction would happen to the East Wing. Concerns such as they were (and to be fair some were expressed) were in my view minimized.
Yet though it all, even as it became apparent the whole freaking East Wing would be torn down, leaving a swath of ugly brown dirt by the end of the week ONE thing seemed to never get mention. ACECO Demolition, the name of the company doing the nasty, ANTI – American deed. I know, doxxing the actual workers might have been wrong but why go to such lengths to protect the company? I hope, I really do they lose so many contracts they go out of business. Yes, that would suck for the workers who truly wanted nothing to do with that particular job/contract but that’s how I feel.
There has been a bit of local news coverage from DC affiliates and a handful of print publications. Here’s one example from The Real Deal which I gather is a publication oriented to real estate news. It’s a short, easy read and provides some good information. It starts out noting the obvious, that there’s been a lot of anger over what’s taken place. And, more importantly that anger is being expressed at the company, the aforementioned ACECO that did the work. I particularly liked how the linked article early on plainly says the promises of no changes to (then) existing East Wing were “Bunk.” Again, even if you hadn’t harbored any fears from the time the ballroom was announced that the East Wing we knew would be VERY different, that Trumpty would indeed make ‘bigly and ugly’ changes razing the whole thing was something you can be forgiven for thinking, or at least hoping wouldn’t happen.
Yet what happened last week was something I feared would take place. Since the main White House is 55k square feet in size and the new ballroom was planned to be over 90k (dwarfing the actual WH) how could Trumpty NOT rip out the old East Wing to make room for his tacky, gilded monstrosity? I also say this wasn’t a spur of the moment thing. The management of ACECO worked closely with Team Trump on how to get it done and do so in a way where by the time folks realized what was REALLY going on it would be too late. The looming shutdown provided excellent cover, and Trump is always saying or doing something outrageous that distracts news outlets and the public.
So, both the WH and the demo company carefully gamed out how to find the right moment to go Larry the Cable Guy and ‘git er done.’ Don’t ever forget that. Also, don’t forget the likelihood calls were made to the executives at news outlets at the outset of the demolition. You’ll never convince me threats weren’t made to slow-walk the news of what was actually going to be a done deal by the end of the week, AND to try and shield the contractor from blowback. I find it interesting that one of the handful of outlets who’ve written about blowback on ACECO is The Baltimore Sun, who has some experience with sneaky stuff.
If you know anything about pro football you know the NFL has a team in Baltimore. The Ravens. Once upon a time the Indianapolis Colts were the BALTIMORE Colts and an iconic old-school franchise with roots back to the beginning of the league. Robert Irsay knew he wouldn’t get the kind of stadium deal he wanted in Baltimore and made plans to relocate before the city seized the team via an Eminent Domain bill passed by the legislature. The mayor of Indy was both best friends with and neighbor of Mayflower, a large midwest moving company. Carefully guarded plans were made, then carried out to SNEAK the Colts out of town, even out of Maryland in the middle of the night! It’s a sordid tale, and I believe eerily similar – the destruction of the East Wing in a matter of days is a case of history if not repeating, then surely rhyming.
Team Trump and ACECO carefully worked out the details and waited for the right moment to strike. I use that word almost literally. It was a ‘destruction of a historical site Blitzkrieg’ planned as carefully as Hitler’s generals planned theirs at the beginning of WWII. ACECO thought, or at least greatly hoped their name would stay out of it. Lord knows efforts were made but thankfully at least a handful of journalists looked at the same painted in block letters on some of the demolition equipment and word got out. And if not enough (at least yet) the blowback began.
For starters, ‘assurances’ were made that all the historical items got removed before the demolition began. Really? I have my doubts because it’s hard to imagine carefully packing up everything (and remember the offices and staff of the First Lady are, or were a key component of the West Wing. It’s hard (for me at least) to imagine a job that size being carried out in secret. This, like any WH leaks like a sieve! However, let’s say at the very last minute a crew came in and loaded up painting, artifacts, furniture, exhibits from the museum etc. Ok, while the National Archives could get it done again doing so in secret boggles the mind. Also, who doesn’t know damn well that Trump wouldn’t have decided to keep some of the really priceless stuff for himself?
I think it can be safely assumed some precious and irreplaceable things were lost/destroyed. I also think I’m far from the only one to think so. Preservationists and non-profits have expressed concerns:, which leads me back to the company that razed a piece of American history like it was nothing more than an abandoned, falling apart building in some industrial park:
That’s created issues for Maryland-based ACECO Demolition, which appears to be the contractor demolishing the East Wing, based on photographs of equipment.
Critics are bombarding the company’s social media presences and Google with negative reviews; more than 50 popped up on the latter beginning on Monday, though many have since been deleted, according to the Washington Business Journal.
Michael Citren, the chairperson of the company, removed his LinkedIn profile online. The company did the same and its website is not functioning at this time.
Yep, the company and it’s big boss have gone turtle. And this is no small, fly-by-night company. They’ve got a lot of experience as a federal government contractor. They’ve worked on the Treasury building, National Archives, the Canon House Office Bldg. and even the Capitol. Oh, and they did demolition work for the site that became Jeff Bezos’ Amazon site in Arlington. Bezos, WaPo. Hmmm. Anyway the linked article dryly states Citren and his company, a subcontractor to Clark Construction who is the prime contractor for the Ballroom project ‘did not return calls requesting a comment. Instead as I’ve noted ACOCO’s top dog has removed his LInkedIn profile and their website has gone dark. All you get now ia an error message!
I hope, I really do that while they are trying to run and hide the spotlight will shine bright and HARSH. This took a lot of people to plan and carry out so rapidly but nary a bit was leaked. That’s why I have no sympathy for those who might lose their jobs is outrage grows the way i t should ACECO goes out of business. Everyone had to know what was about to go down, but didn’t say, much lees do anything to stop it.
I hope folks make a note at every site where their equipment and trucks are seen, and get in touch with the management of companies. that hired them. Shame those m-effers out of business. Raise hell with mainstream news outlets for not being on top of every part of this story and look elsewhere including blogs like this one to learn details regular news outlets are too lazy  and/or unwilling to report.
It would be awesome to see signs not just outside ACECO’s headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland ‘a DC suburb but at every construction/demolitian site you see them at.
.
************************************
 Friends, if you can help us with a small donation or an ad-free subscription, it would be appreciated. We are attempting to get through a year of depressed traffic and make it to 2026, where the grass will hopefully be greener due to the midterms. Thank you. Ursula
I think that the workers of ACECO will be fine. If the company tanks (as these outfits do every few years), the workers will move on to a new construction company.
The number of jobs out there remains the same so it stands to reason that the same number of crews will be required.
Hopefully, the upper management of ACECO will be unemployed for some time.
Job-wise they’ll be fine. Not so much health-wise if there was asbestos involved.
That’s a good point and one I wish I’d thought of. Asbestos was a commonly used material back during the time the East Wing was rebuilt into the configuration we now can only remember. I don’t know if any abatement took place after the dangers of asbestos became understood. Many buildings both public and private spent a lot of money CAREFULLY removing it. Now I’m curious as to whether the process was done with the East Wing. In the attempts to hide what was going on I don’t recall much in the way of pictures of actual workers but now I’m curious. If there was still asbestos in the East Wing that kind of demolition would have had the air filled with particles. Even if they wore special masks it would settle on their skin and clothing. Then when they changed out of work clothes (back at home?) they’d introduce it into their homes where other family members could breathe some of it in.
So again, that’s a helluva question you’ve raised. Here’s another. IF that was a concern, since I’m sure workers who did the job had to sign an NDA with their employer if the fine print included a rider that had workers waiving their right to sue should they suffer any “Job related illnesses.”
i’m betting the valuable stuff was removed. remember the end of trump1.0? everybody involved left the premisis carying whatever artifacts they could, not to return them to archives or museums.