Former CNN host turned podcaster Jim Acosta appeared to suggest on Thursday that, because the president lives at the White House, he is in charge of its plumbing, as he blamed President Trump for the poor working conditions that he worked in when he was a White House correspondent during Trump’s first term.
During a discussion with former aide to VP Mike Pence-turned Never Trumper Olivia Troye, Acosta lamented Republican budget priorities, “They give tax cuts to the very wealthy in this country, who, if you were to raise taxes on them just a little bit, just a teeny-weeny little bit, it would help pay down the deficit and the debt in this country, and we wouldn't saddle future generations with, you know, the potential for, you know, financial catastrophe. I mean, that's what's building in this country if we keep running up the nation's credit cards in this fashion.”
As this conversation was taking place against the backdrop of the Texas floods and discourse about FEMA and NOAA, Troye took it a step further:
I look at things like what they're doing right now. I believe in a strong defense and military, right? I think we should have a strong defense system. I believe in that because I believe in national security, but I also believe that the money that we're going to spend on this Golden Dome idea that they keep pushing and peddling, that they've already allocated for—I've talked to sources in the Pentagon—it's allocated, it's actually really happening, much to the—appalling to many of the people who are watching this happening. Why can't we take that Golden Dome funding and actually spend that money on building resilience domestically here for natural disasters that are happening, for communities that are being impacted? Because that's actually homeland security. That's actually protecting the security and safety of the American—”
Acosta agreed, portraying the whole thing as a vanity project, “And part of me thinks that Donald Trump just likes the Golden Dome thing because it has the word “golden” in it.”
The opposite is true. The Golden Dome, like the Space Force, is a mainstream idea that people mock because Trump was the one to implement it and put “golden” in the name.
However, Acosta then began to descend further into silliness, “He just wants everything to be gold. And I'm sorry, but he's, you know, not to go off on a tangent here, but he's kind of turned the White House into the poor man's Versailles. You know, he leans back in his chair, and he talks about, ‘Oh, we put the gold leafing and the gold etching in all these different places.’ And it's just tacky. It's like, you know, Graceland, but worse, tackier.”
After further complaints from both Acosta and Troye about the carpeting and Rose Garden, Acosta recalled:
There were times when it would rain so much on the grounds of the White House that water would be literally coming into the basement of our press area. And I remember April Ryan; I should get her on to talk about this sometime. She would be in her little radio booth in the press basement, and there would just be water coming down the walls of her little—I’m like—and it's getting into the carpeting, and it's soaking it up everywhere and getting all moldy smelling. It was absolutely disgusting. And I'm thinking to myself, and this happened when I was there covering Donald Trump, and I'm thinking to myself, you know, this is a guy who builds golf courses and hotels but can't run the damn plumbing in his own White House.
Troye concurred, “Yeah, or can’t spend the money on that, but we’re going to build whatever this ballroom is going to be like that you and I will probably never see. I don’t think we’re going to get an invite.”
In reality, the White House’s building operations are run by the Chief Usher and the Residence Staff, which includes plumbers, not a micromanaging president. Acosta might claim he was jesting, but the jest makes no sense.
Here is a transcript for the July 10 show:
The Jim Acosta Show
7/10/2025
JIM ACOSTA: They give tax cuts to the very wealthy in this country, who, if you were to raise taxes on them just a little bit, just a teeny-weeny little bit, it would help pay down the deficit and the debt in this country, and we wouldn't saddle future generations with, you know, the potential for, you know, financial catastrophe.
I mean, that's what's building in this country if we keep running up the nation's credit cards in this fashion.
OLIVIA TROYE: Yeah, well, and look, I look at things like what they're doing right now. I believe in a strong defense and military, right? I think we should have a strong defense system. I believe in that--
ACOSTA: Yup.
TROYE: --because I believe in national security, but I also believe that the money that we're going to spend on this Golden Dome idea that they keep pushing and peddling, that they've already allocated for — I've talked to sources in the Pentagon — it's allocated, it's actually really happening, much to the — appalling to many of the people who are watching this happening.
Why can't we take that Golden Dome funding and actually spend that money on building resilience domestically here for natural disasters that are happening, for communities that are being impacted? Because that's actually homeland security. That's actually protecting the security and safety of the American—
ACOSTA: And part of me thinks that Donald Trump just likes the Golden Dome thing because it has the word “golden” in it.
TROYE: Yeah, it's like the golden toilet, you know, I mean.
ACOSTA: He's Goldmember from Austin Powers. I mean, let's just face it. He just wants everything to be gold. And I'm sorry, but he's, you know, not to go off on a tangent here, but he's kind of turned the White House into the poor man's Versailles. You know, he leans back in his chair, and he talks about, “Oh, we put the gold leafing and the gold etching in all these different places.”
And it's just tacky. It's like, you know, Graceland, but worse, tackier—
TROYE: Yeah, I mean, I don’t know why, but I’m very interested to see—
ACOSTA: —with the shag carpeting in the bathroom and everything, you know.
TROYE: I'm really curious to see how that works out because aren’t-- they're destroying the Rose Garden, too, aren't they, I mean--
ACOSTA: Oh, my God. The Rose Garden. Oh, my lord.
TROYE: It is horrible. Not that it was in great shape when they were there the first time around, but that's, I'm not going to get into that. But I was kind of depressing when I'd walk by it. But they never really tended the garden. But now it’s a monstrosity.
ACOSTA: Well, not to go off on another tangent, but I was in the White House basement because that's where they kept part of the press. And that's where they kept me at my network because, you know, they thought we belonged in the basement. No, I'm just kidding. No, but there were times when it would rain so much on the grounds of the White House that water would be literally coming into the basement of our press area. And I remember April Ryan, I should get her on to talk about this sometime. She would be in her little radio booth in the press basement, and there would just be water coming down the walls of her little—I’m like—and it's getting into the carpeting, and it's soaking it up everywhere and getting all moldy smelling. It was absolutely disgusting. And I'm thinking to myself, and this happened when I was there covering Donald Trump, and I'm thinking to myself, you know, this is a guy who builds golf courses and hotels but can't run the damn plumbing in his own White House.
TROYE: Yeah, or can’t spend the money on that, but we’re going to build whatever this ballroom is going to be like that you and I will probably never see. I don’t think we’re going to get an invite.
