Aceco, a Maryland demolition company, finds itself in a public relations nightmare sparked by people offended at its role in tearing down the White House East Wing to make way for President Donald Trump’s planned ballroom.
So many people posted unflattering messages about the firm — giving it one-star reviews — that Yelp temporarily disabled further comments. Posts included: “Traitors to the United States,” “How dare you destroy part of OUR house,” and “Oops. Bad move tearing down the People’s House.”
Demo companies aren’t accustomed to coping with the social media fallout that comes from becoming an unwitting player in the nation’s politics and culture wars. So what does Aceco do now?
Calls and texts to Aceco were not returned, but Roger Hartley, dean of the University of Baltimore’s College of Public Affairs, speculated that the company could say: “We were asked, and since we do this [work], we said ‘yes.’ We don’t pass judgment on somebody for what they want to do. If the president of the United States calls and says it’s OK to do this, we’d typically do it,’ ” Hartley said.
The two-story East Wing of drawing rooms and offices, including workspace for first ladies and their staffs, has been demolished as part of Trump’s plan to build a $300 million ballroom nearly twice the size of the White House, The Associated Press reported from photos Thursday.
Trump, a Republican, posted on Truth Social earlier this week that “ground has been broken on the White House grounds to build the new, big, beautiful White House Ballroom.”
He said the East Wing “is being fully modernized as part of this process” and that the work is being funded by “many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly.”
A mark of Trump’s second presidency has been its intimacy with some of the richest companies in the world. It began with large donations to Trump’s inauguration fund, and it has continued with his ballroom. Lockheed Martin, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are among those who contributed. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, gave $22 million, as noted in a recent settlement with the administration.
In addition to the tech and defense giants, Trump mega-donors Miriam Adelson and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick were among those who gave to the project, as were cryptocurrency luminaries Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.
Aceco, headquartered on a quiet street adjacent to downtown Silver Spring, faced an onslaught of social media criticism after the firm’s name was clearly visible in photos of the rubble. They have since taken down their website, and left a page with its logo (“Redefining Demolition”) and a note, saying “This site is under construction.”
Crisis leadership specialist Rob Weinhold said the company should be proactive.
“Now is not the time to retreat,” said Weinhold, of the Fallston Group in Baltimore. “If you don’t tell your story, somebody else will. If somebody else tells your story, it certainly won’t be the story you want told.”
Weinhold said he would advise Aceco or other firms in such a fraught situation “to demonstrate their work history” and show they were taking “due care and caution” in such a sensitive project.
And, he said, “Leave the politics to the politicians and the demolition to the experts.”
Rep. Andy Harris, Maryland’s sole congressional Republican, did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication. The delegation’s Democrats have criticized the ballroom project and said its timing is inappropriate.
“We shouldn’t be surprised. Isn’t this the guy who was flanked on his swearing-in day by billionaires?” Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, the Maryland Democrat, told The Sun.
She said the destruction happening during a government shutdown makes the decision even worse.
“What does he do in the midst of it? At the height of arrogance, indifference, cruelty — and really just immorality — we not only take down that building, but we build a ballroom.”
Sun reporter Ben Mause contributed to this article. Have a news tip? Contact Jeff Barker at jebarker@baltsun.com