Former United States President Joe Biden delivered one of his sharpest attacks yet on President Donald Trump, ridiculing his White House renovation projects and branding him “a loser” during a Democratic fundraising event in Maryland.
Speaking at the gala in Hanover on Saturday, Biden accused Trump of prioritising expensive personal projects over the country’s real challenges, taking aim at plans to build a grand ballroom at the White House and changes to Washington landmarks.
“It’s not just his vanity projects,” Biden told supporters. “Tearing down the East Wing to make room for his ballroom, putting his name on the Kennedy Center, building an arch in his own honour, even hiring his own pool guy to fix the Reflecting Pool. Woah! What a loser.”
The remarks marked one of Biden’s strongest public rebukes of Trump since leaving office. While the two men have traded insults for years, Biden’s speech was notably more direct and personal than his recent public appearances.
His criticism referenced Trump’s unsuccessful effort to have his name placed on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a move later overturned by a court order.
Biden also mocked Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom project, which the president has defended as necessary to improve security and accommodate state functions.
He further criticised the administration’s $14.7 million restoration of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a project that later drew attention after algae growth and maintenance problems emerged.
Trump and the National Park Service have blamed the issues on vandalism.
The former president also accused Trump of standing by those involved in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“What makes me angry is that Trump wants to give taxpayers’ money your money to the January 6 insurrectionists,” Biden said, referring to the administration’s abandoned attempt to compensate individuals who claimed they had been unfairly investigated over the Capitol riot.
The White House did not immediately respond to Biden’s latest remarks.
Trump has continued to target Biden in recent weeks, calling him a “crooked politician” on Truth Social and repeatedly reviving his long-used “Sleepy Joe” nickname.
Biden’s appearance came exactly two years after his widely criticised debate performance against Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign.
The debate triggered mounting pressure from Democratic leaders for him to step aside, ultimately leading then-Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him as the party’s nominee. Harris went on to lose the election to Trump.
