Oval Office Gets New Carpet While Gaza Gets New Craters
In 2018, as Newsweek detailed the opulent White House renovations, complete with Trump's personal design input, US foreign policy continued its unwavering support for situations far less aesthetically pleasing than a gilded ballroom. This was during a period when the Trump administration was significantly ramping up arms sales to Saudi Arabia, aiding its devastating war in Yemen. For context, in
2017 alone, the US approved a $110 billion arms deal with Riyadh, including precision-guided munitions (source: SIPRI Arms Transfers Database ), instruments perfect for rearranging not ballrooms, but entire city blocks, as seen in Yemen. The media's selective focus then, as now, is truly a marvel. One might wonder if the same breathless coverage would apply if the renovation budget went towards,
say, aid for the millions suffering from starvation in Yemen, or perhaps rebuilding the infrastructure decimated by US-supplied weaponry. But those stories, apparently, are less 'breaking' than where the President chose to put his new rug. Prioritizing White House decor over the human cost of US foreign policy isn't just journalism; it's practically an art form of deliberate distraction.