Someone apparently taught the liberal ladies of The View a new vocabulary word overnight because they kept throwing around the word “nihilist” to describe President Trump during Tuesday’s episode. The cast was up in arms about the construction of the White House’s new ballroom; claiming that it was evidence that Trump thinks “he is a king” and a “one-man wrecking ball” with “no purpose other than an impulse to destroy” (it’s unclear how that squared with building something new).
“It’s a very bad look right now to be building and demolishing and all this gold tacky crap that he loves!” shouted co-host Joy Behar. She also described Trump as a “one-man wrecking ball.”
It was Behar who got the notation to look up “nihilist” and teach it to the rest of them. Despite the fact the demolition of a small part of the White House was being undertaken to build something more, she bloviated about how Trump was only interested in destruction:
But I looked up the word nihilist, while I had a free moment. And that’s what he is. He annihilates. And this is one of the definitions: A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no loyalties and no purpose other than an impulse to destroy. And that is what we are seeing right now in our country. It is not funny.
At one point, Behar even seemed to think Trump should be in prison for building the ballroom, whining that people were letting him “get away with it.” “Why do they let him get away with it? He has all these people that let him get away with whatever he wants to do,” she decried.
They even had a problem with the ballroom being built without taxpayer funds. “A ballroom is a symbol of excess and opulence,” pretend independent Sara Haines bellyached. “And this was like a wealthy ballroom paid for by wealthy people for wealthy people to come and dance in a ballroom. And like I know this was price funds. But I can’t help but imagine how far $250 million could go for families can’t put food on their table.”
Co-host Sunny Hostin, who experiences chronic racial grievance, tried to cope with the ballroom by throwing as many insults at it as she possibly could. “That’s what struck me, the $250 million project. And it’s going to be tacky and gaudy…this tacky gaudy nasty ballroom,” she proclaimed.
The producers put up an image of the concept art and that triggered more insults:
HOSTIN: It’s tacky! See?!
GOLDBERG: It looks like a casino ballroom.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: It looks like Mar-a-Lago.
HOSTIN: It looks like Mar-a-Lago, which is tacky!
“[T]he first thing that came to mind was that this is a metaphor for what’s going on in our country. He is tearing down the house! He is tearing down the people’s house! He’s an annihilist [sic]. I think he does seem to think that it’s his house, that he is a king,” Hostin shrieked.
The ballroom really triggered moderator Whoopi Goldberg, who kicked off their conversation by angrily shouting, “That is not your building! You don’t own that building! … You don’t own that building! That is the people’s building! [Claps her hands together] You don’t own it!” She dabbled in a little false equivalency by suggesting it was like her going to Trump Tower and installing a disco.
Things really got unhinged when Behar and Goldberg started singing about how Trump doesn’t own the White House:
BEHAR: Let’s sing it! [Starts singing and dancing in her seat] You don’t own it!
GOLDBERG: You don’t own it. You cannot take it down. You don’t own it. Take your behind to another town!
Unfortunately for them, faux conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin had to give them a little bit of a reality check. “Presidents technically have the authority to do this. Traditionally they would run it before a presidential planning commission, so they’d adhere to the architectural integrity of it,” she noted.
She also admitted there was a need for it:
There is not a room in the White House right now that can host a giant state dinner. We usually do it in the East Room or the State Room. The capacity is about 200 people. Trump has cared since his first term that if you go to the U.K. or something you can have these sweeping huge dinners.
Goldberg and Hostin pounced on the mention of the U.K. (despite the show’s love of covering the royal family), with Goldberg noting those dinners were held at Windsor Castle. “You mean the king’s castle!” Hostin shouted, as if it was evidence of Trump thinking himself a king.
Behar would go on to claim that the construction of the ballroom was some sort of tell of Trump’s ulterior motives: “Somebody who is building something like this does not intend to get out of office.”
Just more inciting rhetoric from ABC News.
The transcript is below. Click “expand” to read:
ABC’s The View
October 21, 2025
11:03:05 a.m. Eastern(…)
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Okay. Okay. That is not your building! You don’t own that building!
[Cheers and applause]
That would be like me going over to Trump Tower and saying I’m going to build a disco! You know? They’ve wanted a disco in Trump Tower for hundreds of years. I mean, come on. You don’t own that building! That is the people’s building! [Claps her hands together] You don’t own it!
[Applause]
JOY BEHAR: Let’s sing it! [Starts singing and dancing in her seat] You don’t own it!
GOLDBERG: You don’t own it. You cannot take it down. You don’t own it. Take your behind to another town!
[Cheers and applause]
BEHAR: Very good. So the guy — The guy is like a one-man wrecking ball. Seriously.
(…)
11:04:28 a.m. Eastern
BEHAR: It’s a very bad look right now to be building and demolishing and all this gold tacky crap that he loves! But I looked up the word nihilist, while I had a free moment. And that’s what he is. He annihilates. And this is one of the definitions: A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no loyalties and no purpose other than an impulse to destroy. And that is what we are seeing right now in our country. It is not funny.
[Applause]
SARA HAINES: Joy, what you’re alluding to is kind of what struck me. A ballroom is a symbol of excess and opulence. And we’re living in a time where those optics just are flying in the face of the reality of the majority of this country.
When you look up- you know, he won on making cost of living better but inflation’s up three percent. 74 percent of Americans say they’ve seen household prices increase by at least $100. The unemployment rate is at a four-year high right now. People are struggling to eat. And this was like a wealthy ballroom paid for by wealthy people for wealthy people to come and dance in a ballroom. And like I know this was price funds. But I can’t help but imagine how far $250 million could go for families can’t put food on their table.
[Applause]
SUNNY HOSTIN: That part! That’s what struck me, the $250 million project. And it’s going to be tacky and gaudy. You know that.
BEHAR: And people are losing their health care. To give tax breaks to multimillionaires.
HOSTIN: And to billionaires who probably are some of the private donors for this tacky gaudy nasty ballroom. And the thing that you said, Whoopi, was the first thing that came to mind.
[Concept image of the ballroom is shown]
It’s tacky! See?!
GOLDBERG: It looks like a casino ballroom.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: It looks like Mar-a-Lago.
HOSTIN: It looks like Mar-a-Lago, which is tacky! And I think for me, Whoopi, the first thing that came to mind was that this is a metaphor for what’s going on in our country. He is tearing down the house! He is tearing down —
BEHAR: He’s a nihilist.
HOSTIN: — the people’s house! He’s an annihilist [sic]. I think he does seem to think that it’s his house, that he is a king.
(…)
11:07:21 a.m. Eastern
FARAH GRIFFIN: The last major renovation of the White House was 1948 when Harry Truman added the Truman balcony which we all know on the South Portico. Presidents technically have the authority to do this. Traditionally they would run it before a presidential planning commission, so they’d adhere to the architectural integrity of it. I have fears that this might look more like a Florida country club than the White House as we know it.
HOSTIN: It’s going to be tacky!
FARAH GRIFFIN: But to me – Listen. This is what I will say in defense of him but let me finish my point before you interrupt. There is not a room in the White House right now that can host a giant state dinner. We usually do it in the East Room or the State Room. The capacity is about 200 people. Trump has cared since his first term that if you go to the U.K. or something you can have these sweeping huge dinners. So if you want to —
GOLDBERG: But remind everybody were they’re having the sweeping —
FARAH GRIFFIN: True.
GOLDBERG: It’s in the castle.
FARAH GRIFFIN: Yes, exactly.
GOLDBERG: It’s in Windsor castle.
HOSTIN: You mean the king’s castle!
FARAH GRIFFIN: So that’s why he wants to build it.
(…)
