Before Trump gutted the White House for renovations, Turkey’s Erdogan built his White Palace

To many onlookers, the symbolism felt overwhelming. The rapid demolition of the East Wing of the White House last week to make way for a planned giant ballroom stunned the press corps, politicians and conservationists, who had taken to heart President Donald Trump’s earlier insistence that his desired construction would not interfere with the original structure. But less than a year into a second term shaped by his ability to break things, Trump had taken a jackhammer to the literal edifice of the U.S. presidency in a desire to build something more concretely in his own image.